Alec Wilkie

Alex Wilkie attended Aylesbury Grammar School and went on to gain his BSc in mathematics with first class honours from University College London in 1969, his MSc (in mathematical logic) from the University of London in 1970, and his PhD from the Bedford College, University of London in 1973 under the supervision of Wilfrid Hodges with a dissertation titled Models of Number Theory.

After his doctoral research he was appointment as a lecturer in mathematics at Leicester University from 1972 to 1973, then a research fellow at the Open University from 1973 until 1978. He spent two periods as a junior lecturer in mathematics at Oxford University (1978–80 and 1981-2) with (1980–1) as a visiting assistant professor at Yale University. In 1980 Wilkie solved Tarski's high school algebra problem.

In October 1982 Wilkie was appointed as a research fellow in the department of mathematics at the University of Paris VII, then returned to England the following year to take up a three-year SERC (now EPSRC) advanced research fellowship at the University of Manchester. After two years he was appointed lecturer in the Department of Mathematics. In 1986 he went on to Oxford where he was appointed to the readership in mathematical logic there which had become vacant upon the retirement of Robin Gandy. He remained in this post until appointment to the Fielden Chair at Manchester.