Hannah Fry
British mathematician and TV presenter (1984-)
Hannah Mary Fry (born 21 February 1984) is a British mathematician, author and broadcaster. She is the first professor of the public understanding of mathematics at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge. She was previously the president of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and was a professor of the mathematics of cities at University College London.
Her work has included studies of patterns of human behaviour, such as interpersonal relationships and dating, and how mathematics can apply to them, the mathematics behind pandemics, and scientific explanations of modern appliances. She has had a particular focus on helping the public to improve their mathematical skills. Fry gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 2019 and has presented several television and radio programmes for the BBC, including The Secret Genius of Modern Life. She has received several awards for her work in mathematics, including the Asimov Prize and David Attenborough Award.
Early life and education
Hannah Mary Fry was born in Harlow, Essex, England, on 21 February 1984. The middle of three sisters, she grew up in Hoddesdon and Ware, Hertfordshire. She is of English and Irish heritage: her father was an English factory worker making hydraulic lifts for lorries and her Irish Catholic mother stayed at home.
“Hannah Fry” enters the record as british mathematician and TV presenter (1984-). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hannah, British and mathematician can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q23657278. VIAF identifies the subject as 314908506. The Library of Congress control number is no2015026208. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1984 and 2019.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hannah Fry” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.