John R. Willis

John Raymond Willis (* 1940 ) is a British engineer and applied mathematician who deals theoretically with solid mechanics .

Willis graduated from the University of London with a bachelor's degree in 1961 (in the same year he received the Lubbock Prize from the University of London and the Governors Prize in Mathematics from Imperial College) and a doctorate in 1964. He also earned a master's degree from the university in 1966 Cambridge . From 1962 to 1964 he was Assistant Lecturer at Imperial College and 1964/65 at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University . From 1972 to 1994 he was Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath and from 2000 Professor of Theoretical Solid Mechanics at the University of Cambridge (interrupted from 2000/2001 when he was again Professor in Bath). From 1998 to 2004 he was a part-time professor at the École polytechnique .

He deals with mathematical problems of solid mechanics, including statics and dynamics of composite materials, nonlinear fracture mechanics, theory of dislocations, elastodynamics of crack propagation, non-destructive material testing with ultrasound.

In 1997 he received the Timoshenko Medal , in 1998 the William Prager Medal and in 2012 the Euromech Solid Mechanics Prize. In 1971 he received the Adams Prize in Cambridge. In 1992 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society . He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Académie des sciences .

From 1982 to 2006 he was co-editor of the Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids.

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