Interview with Sir John Kingman

Abstract

Sir John Kingman, Fellow of the Royal Society, was the 4th president of the European Mathematical Society during the years 2003–2006. From his career as a professor of probability theory and statistics to holding top positions as a science administrator and leader, his professional journey continued until his retirement in 2006. Now, at age 86, he does not do contemporary mathematics any longer, but he still likes to think about and solve non-trivial puzzles of a mathematical flavour.

In January 2025, Ana Mendes and Martin Raussen had the opportunity to ask Sir John about his life within and around mathematics. Among many other things, we learned that mathematics is a fuzzy and messy subject, nevertheless connected, and quite often very useful!