Congratulations to Michael Green who has been elected the 18th holder of the Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, one of the most prestigious academic positions in the mathematical sciences.

Isaac Newton was the second person to hold it in the 17th century, and he has been succeeded by mathematical giants including Charles Babbage, father of computer science, the theoretical physicist Paul Dirac, and of course Stephen Hawking, who has been holding the chair since 1979. Hawking stepped down from the professorship in the year of his 67th birthday, as university statutes require.

Michael Green is one of the founders of string theory, which he pioneered from the early seventies onwards. Apart from original research in the area, his contributions include the a textbook co-authored with Edward Witten and John Schwarz, which for many years remained the only string theory text book around.

Peter Haynes, Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge, said: "Michael Green has played a leading role in theoretical physics research in the department since 1993. He is internationally known as a pioneer in string theory which over the last 20 years has become one of the most important and active areas of the field. In the department he continues to make important advances in this topic and at the same time to support and inspire young researchers. His appointment as Lucasian Professor continues the very distinguished tradition of that post."

You can read more in the Plus articles:

• Tying it all up, written in collaboration with Michael Green;
• Happy Birthday Stephen Hawking and Hawking's 60 years in a nutshell, on Hawking and his work; and
• From Newton to Einstein and beyond on string theory in general.