History of The Chair
Lucas, in his will, bequeathed his library of 4,000 volumes to the university and left instruction for the purchase of land whose yielding should provide £100 a year for the founding of a professorship. One of the stipulations in Lucas' will was that the holder of the professorship should not be active in the church. Isaac Newton later appealed to King Charles II that this requirement excused him from taking holy orders, which was compulsory for most fellows of the university at that time (some fellowships were exempt). The King supported Newton, and excused all holders of the professorship, in perpetuity, from the requirement to take holy orders.
The current holder of the post is the theoretical physicist Michael Green who is currently a fellow in Clare Hall at the University of Cambridge. He was appointed in October 2009, succeeding Stephen Hawking who retired in September 2009, in the year of his 67th birthday, as required by the University. Hawking now holds the position of Emeritus Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.
Read more about this topic: Lucasian Professor Of Mathematics
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