A brief history of the Department

The Department of Mathematics is one of the founding departments of the University of York, beginning its life in Heslington Hall in 1963 under Patrick Kennedy, the first Head of Department.

Other notable staff members at the time included Arnold Arthurs (who became HoD 1980 to 1990) and Victor Hale. Following the death of Patrick Kennedy in 1966, Victor took over the role of acting HoD 1966 to 1967, before Fred Cornish became the second HoD for the period 1967 to 1979.

In the period 1964 to 1965, the Department moved to 86 Micklegate. In 1965, the Department moved back to Heslington, into offices at the newly-constructed Langwith College (now part of Derwent).

New staff members included Professor Terry Sheil-Small from London and John Fountain from Leeds (who became HoD 1990 to 1994, before retiring as Emeritus in 2007). Dusa McDuff FRS, Tony Sudbery and Maurice Dodson were all at York in the 1970s, with Dusa moving to MIT while Tony (1994-1999) and Maurice (2004-2005) went on to become Heads of Department. Ed Corrigan FRS moved to York as Head from Durham in 1999. In 2002, the Department relocated to James College, which is where it remains today.