Congratulations to Professor Sir John Ball on the news of his election to the role of President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Sir John takes office in April 2022.

Of his appointment Sir John said, “The Royal Society of Edinburgh, with its long history and tradition, is one of the great institutions of Scotland, and it plays a vital role both in supporting intellectual life and providing expert and impartial advice to society at large. To be elected President is both an honour and a challenge, and I look forward to working with the Fellows and professional staff of the Society as it moves forward.”

John Ball’s main research areas lie in  the calculus of variations, nonlinear partial differential equations, infinite-dimensional dynamical systems and their applications to nonlinear mechanics. In solid mechanics, he is especially interested in the mathematics of microstructure arising from phase transformations in solids, using models based on nonlinear elasticity, where the problem of predicting microstructure morphology is related to deep unsolved questions of the multi-dimensional calculus of variations such as understanding quasiconvexity. A more recent research interest is in the mathematics of liquid crystals.

John Ball has a long association with the Heilbronn Institute’s work. He is also a regular visitor to the Heilbronn Institute and has contributed to many Heilbronn events over the years.