Hannah Fry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hannah Fry
FIMA FIET
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Fry in 2017
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| Born | 21 February 1984 Harlow, Essex, England
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| Alma mater | University College London (BA, MA, PhD) |
| Occupation | Mathematician, author, broadcaster |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (2019) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | A Study of Droplet Deformation (2011) |
| Doctoral advisor | Frank T. Smith |
Hannah Fry (born 21 February 1984) is a British mathematician, author, and broadcaster. She is a Professor at the University of Cambridge, where she helps people understand mathematics. She is also a leader at the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. Before this, she was a professor at University College London.
Hannah Fry studies how math can explain human behavior. This includes things like friendships and dating. She also looks at the math behind pandemics and how modern gadgets work. A big part of her job is helping everyone get better at math. In 2019, she gave the famous Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. She has also hosted many TV and radio shows for the BBC, like The Secret Genius of Modern Life.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Hannah Fry was born in Essex, England, on 21 February 1984. She grew up in Hoddesdon and Ware, Hertfordshire, with her two sisters. Her father worked in a factory, and her mother stayed home.
When she was about 11, her mother made her solve math problems every day during summer. This helped her get ahead in school. She went to Presdales School in Ware. A teacher there inspired her to study mathematics. Hannah later earned her degree in math from University College London (UCL). In 2011, she received her PhD from UCL. Her research was about how liquids move, called fluid dynamics.
Career and Research
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Hannah Fry became a lecturer at University College London in 2012. She worked at the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. Later, she became a senior lecturer and then a professor. In September 2022, she became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2024, she became the president of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. In January 2025, she joined the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge. She is the first Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics there.
Hannah Fry wants to change the idea that math is "boring." She knows math can be hard, but she believes it can be shown in ways that people can relate to.
Radio and Television Work
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Hannah Fry started doing stand-up comedy in 2015. This led to a TED Talk and TV work. She often appears on UK media. She is a regular on The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry on BBC Radio 4. Since September 2024, Dara Ó Briain has been her co-presenter.
In 2015, she presented a BBC Four film about Ada Lovelace, a computer pioneer. The next year, she co-hosted Trainspotting Live with Peter Snow. This three-part series on BBC Four was about trains and trainspotting. In the BBC Two series City in the Sky, Fry explored how aviation works. She also hosted The Joy of Data on BBC Four. This show looked at the history and impact of data. In 2016, she co-hosted an episode of Horizon called How to Find Love Online.
In 2018, Fry presented Contagion! The BBC Four Pandemic. This show was about what might happen during a flu pandemic. She said the show would simulate an outbreak to help save lives. The show used Haslemere, Surrey, as the first infection site. Coincidentally, in February 2020, Haslemere had the first recorded case of COVID-19 from within the UK. She also hosted a special episode of Tomorrow's World.
In 2019, Fry presented A Day in the Life of Earth on BBC Four. This program explored how Earth changes daily. These changes are vital for human life. She also gave the 2019 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. The lectures were called Secrets and Lies. They explored the hidden numbers and patterns in our daily lives. She was only the fourth mathematician to give these lectures.
In 2020, Fry co-presented The Great British Intelligence Test on BBC Two. She has also presented other BBC shows explaining the math behind COVID-19 and other pandemics. She was a guest on The Life Scientific on BBC Radio 4 in 2021. She has also appeared on Have I Got News for You.
In July 2022, she presented the BBC Two documentary Unvaccinated. In this show, she looked at why some people in Britain did not get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Fry started a six-part series in 2022 on BBC Two, The Secret Genius Of Modern Life. In this series, she explores topics like how credit cards were invented and how they work. A second series began in November 2023. One episode showed how British passports are made. She also presented The Future With Hannah Fry on Bloomberg Originals, starting in March 2023. Later that year, Radio Four started broadcasting Uncharted with Hannah Fry. This series of short documentaries is about graphs.
In 2024, Fry was the 'chief number cruncher' for Channel 4's coverage of the 2024 United Kingdom general election. She analyzed election results as they came in. She correctly predicted that the Labour Party would win.
Books and Publications
Hannah Fry has written or co-written four books. Her first book, The Mathematics of Love: Patterns, Proofs, and the Search for the Ultimate Equation (2015), talks about the "37% rule" for choosing partners. Her second book, The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus (2015), uses math to explore Christmas topics. These include a fair Secret Santa and decorating Christmas trees.
Her third book is Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine (2018). This book looks at how algorithms affect our lives. In 2021, she wrote Rutherford & Fry's Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything (Abridged) with Adam Rutherford.
Awards and Recognition
- 2018: Christopher Zeeman Medal from the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) and the London Mathematical Society. This was for helping the public understand math.
- 2020: Asimov Prize for her book Hello World.
- 2020: Honorary Fellowship of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
- 2024: David Attenborough Award by the Royal Society. This was for her great work in making math popular. She inspires young people to enjoy math and physics.
Personal Life
Hannah Fry lives in South London. She has two daughters, whom she co-parents with her husband, from whom she is separated.
At age 36, she had a health challenge. She later made a documentary for BBC Two's Horizon called "Making Sense of Cancer with Hannah Fry." In the film, she discussed her health journey and how statistics help understand health decisions.
Images for kids
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Fry at the Data of Tomorrow conference in 2017
