Bio
Professor Kenway is Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Edinburgh. He held the Tait Chair of Mathematical Physics there from 1994 to 2021. Having spent most of his career working on computer simulations of the strong interaction between quarks and gluons described by Quantum Chromodynamics, his current research explores the connections between quantum field theory and machine learning.
From 2005 to 2021, as Vice-Principal at the University of Edinburgh, Professor Kenway was responsible for promoting advanced computing, artificial intelligence and data science technologies to benefit society and the economy. For ten years, until it closed in 2011, his responsibilities included the UK National e-Science Centre. He led the establishment of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE) and chaired it from 2010 to 2012. He has been a Trustee of the Alan Turing Institute since its formation. From 2016 to 2021, he was a member of the Science & Technology Facilities Council.
In the Queen’s 2008 Birthday Honours, Professor Kenway was awarded an OBE for services to science.