Vicky Neale

Victoria Ruth Neale (March 1984 – 3 May 2023)^[2] was a British mathematician and writer. She was Whitehead Lecturer at Oxford's Mathematical Institute and Supernumerary Fellow at Balliol College.^[3][4] Her research specialty was number theory. The author of the 2017 book Closing the Gap: The Quest to Understand Prime Numbers,^[5][6] she was interviewed on several BBC radio programs as a mathematics expert.^[7][8] In addition, she wrote for The Conversation and The Guardian.^[9][10] Her other educational and outreach activities included lecturing at the PROMYS Europe high-school program^[11] and helping to organize the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad.^[12]

Vicky Neale
Born	Victoria Ruth Neale^[1]^[2] March 1984 (1984-03)^[2] Worcester, England, UK^[2]
Died	3 May 2023 (aged 39) Oxford, England, UK^[2]
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Alma mater	University of Cambridge (BA) University of Cambridge (PhD)
Scientific career
Fields	Number theory
Institutions	University of Cambridge University of Oxford
Thesis	Bracket quadratics as asymptotic bases for the natural numbers  (2011)
Doctoral advisor	Ben Green
Website	people.maths.ox.ac.uk/neale/

Neale was born in 1984.^[13] She obtained her PhD in 2011 from the University of Cambridge. Her thesis work, supervised by Ben Joseph Green, concerned Waring's problem.^[3][1] She then taught at Cambridge while being Director of Studies in mathematics at Murray Edwards College,^[12][14] before moving to Oxford in the summer of 2014.^[15]

Neale died on 3 May 2023, at the age of 39.^[16] She had been diagnosed with a rare type of cancer in 2021.^[17]

References

1. Vicky Neale at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
2. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Vicky Neale", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
3. Neale, Vicky (3 August 2018). "Homepage". Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
4. "Speakers and Panellists - ACME". Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
   "BCME 9 Plenary Speakers". British Congress of Mathematics Education. 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
5. Neale, Vicky (2017). Closing the Gap: The Quest to Understand Prime Numbers. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198788287. OCLC 1030559953.
6. Reviews of Closing the Gap include the following:
   • Hunacek, Mark (12 February 2018). "Closing the Gap | Mathematical Association of America". Mathematical Association of America. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
   • Freiberger, Marianne (12 December 2017). "'Closing the gap'". Plus Magazine. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
   • Bultheel, Adhemar (February 2018). "Review: Closing the Gap". European Mathematical Society. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
   • Kalaydzhieva, Nikoleta; Porritt, Sam (28 June 2018). "Closing the Gap". Chalkdust. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
   • Fried, Michael N. (3 July 2018). "Prime Numbers, Mathematical Pencils, and Massive Collaboration". Mathematical Thinking and Learning. 20 (3): 248–250. doi:10.1080/10986065.2018.1483932. ISSN 1098-6065.
7. Among her appearances are the following:
   • "Fermat's Last Theorem, In Our Time - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
   • "Numbers Numbers Everywhere, Series 10, The Infinite Monkey Cage - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
   • "e, In Our Time - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
   • "Vicky Neale on the Mathematics of Beauty, A History of Ideas - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
   • "Maths: Alex Bellos, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Serafina Cuomo, Vicky Neale, Free Thinking - BBC Radio 3". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
8. She is also quoted as a mathematics expert in, for example,
   • Flyn, Cal (10 July 2017). "What Makes Maths Beautiful?". New Humanist. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
   • Sample, Ian (21 November 2016). "Magic numbers: can maths equations be beautiful?". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
9. Neale, Vicky (17 February 2017). "Mathematics is beautiful (no, really)". The Conversation. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
10. Neale, Vicky (26 November 2015). "Solving for Xmas: how to make mathematical Christmas cards". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
11. "Annual Report 2016" (PDF). Clay Mathematics Institute. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
12. "Principal Faculty | PROMYS-Europe: Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists". promys-europe.org. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
13. Vicky Neale 1984–2023, Balliol College
14. Gowers, Timothy (11 January 2014). "Introduction to Cambridge IA Analysis I 2014". Gowers' Weblog. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
15. "Balliol Maths: a plurality of women". Floreat Domus 2015. Balliol College. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
16. "Vicky Neale | Mathematical Institute". Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford. 4 May 2023. from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
17. Dr Vicky Neale (1984-2023), London Mathematical Society