Dr Richard Earl

I am the Ben Delo Fellow in Mathematics at Worcester College and a Departmental Lecturer in the Mathematical Institute. I grew up in West Yorkshire but have been entirely in Oxford since 1988 when I arrived as an undergraduate studying mathematics. In the College I have done various other roles: Tutor for Admissions, Tutor for Graduates, SCR Steward and Vice-Provost. In the Department I was the Outreach Officer and Admissions Coordinator for a decade and then the Director of Undergraduate Studies for a further decade. During 2022/23 I was Worcester’s choice to act as the University Assessor.

I have been with the College since 1999 and teach a range of topics across pure and applied mathematics. Ben Delo – who has endowed two fellowships in the college – was in fact one of my earliest students at the College. My first interests were in geometry and topology, but whilst being the Outreach Officer I broadened my interests so as to represent the Department as widely as possible and now teach across much of mathematics. A lot of my work has focused on the transition from school/college to higher education and I used to run a bridging course for new mathematics students who had not taken Further Mathematics A-level. For over twenty years I have been involved with Sutton Trust summer schools, UNIQ summer schools and more recently Opportunity Oxford.

Dr Earl’s research interests were originally in geometry and topology but, during his time as the admissions co-ordinator and schools liaison officer in the department, his teaching interests have broadened and he now promotes mathematics at access events across a wide range of topics.

• Towards Higher Mathematics (CUP, 2017)
• Topology: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2019)
• Concise Oxford Dictionary in Mathematics 6ed (OUP, 2021)
• Mathematical Analysis: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2023)