King's Birthday Honours: CBE for Malvern mathematician

Professor Caroline Series is being honoured for her services to mathematics.

Prof Series, who is emeritus professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick, is a Fellow of the Royal Society and has picked up a number of awards during her academic career.

She won the London Mathematical Society’s Junior Whitehead Prize in 1987 and its Senior Anne Bennett Prize in 2014.

Commenting on her award, Professor Series said: “I am truly honoured to receive this award. My career has been dedicated to mathematics, and it’s wonderful to be recognised in this way in our new King’s first birthday honours.

"Over the years I have had the pleasure of working alongside brilliant teachers, colleagues and students who have supported me throughout, and this award is a testament to them, as well as to the research I have been able to deliver.

"Mathematics is so important nowadays and leads to all sorts of opportunities for a great career."

Professor Caroline Mary Series FRS, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics (Image: University of Warwick)

Prof Series won a Kennedy Scholarship to study at Havard University in the early 1970s and went on to lecture at the University of California, Berkeley and at Newnham College, Cambridge.

She joined the University of Warwick in 1978, first as a reader, then as a reader then, from 1992, as a professor.

According to the Royal Society, Prof Series is “a pure mathematician known for her work on symbolic coding of geodesics on hyperbolic surfaces and for novel contributions to the study of three dimensional hyperbolic manifolds via their fractal limit sets.”

She was a founder member of European Women in Mathematics and in 2015 became the first vice-chair of the International Mathematical Union’s Committee for Women in Mathematics.

She was also the third female president of the London Mathematical Society, holding the post from 2017-2019.

Professor Stuart Croft, Vice Chancellor of the University of Warwick, added: “This is a richly deserved honour for a brilliant mathematician, expert and role model to so many people. 

“Professor Series is an inspirational figure and we’re incredibly proud of her and what she has achieved.” 

More than half (52%) of the recipients are people who showed “outstanding work” in their communities, either in a voluntary or paid capacity, which was a core focus behind this year’s list, according to those behind the selection process.

Exactly half (50.0%) of the recipients are women – down slightly from last year (51.5%), but the third year in a row when women have made up at least half of the Birthday Honours list.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said: “This year’s honours list is a testament to ordinary people who have demonstrated extraordinary community spirit, and I pay tribute to all those who have been recognised today.

“Our honours system has long been a way of recognising people who make an incredible contribution to life in Britain and beyond.”