Prof. Thorpe Awarded Prestigious Leverhulme Visiting Professorship

Michael F. Thorpe, Foundation Professor of Physics, Chemistry and Biochemistry at Arizona State University, has been awarded Great Britain's prestigious Leverhulme Visiting Professorship.

Thorpe will spend time in residence at the three leading universities in the United Kingdom Imperial College, London, Oxford and Cambridge during 2009 and 2010. He will deliver a series of Leverhulme Lectures focusing on the theme, "Flexibility and Mobility of Frameworks" which will address questions as to why some structures are stable while others are flexible, using examples from chemistry, materials science and biology. He also will engage in close collaboration with members of the three universities on research topics including proteins, viruses, deformations in framework structures and flexibility windows.

Thorpe is one of the world's leading experts on rigidity theory and geometrical simulation techniques which have found applications in many areas of science. His approach to theories on flexibility and floppy modes are considered groundbreaking. Before coming to Arizona in 2003 as the Founding Director of the Center for Biological Physics, he was previously University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University.

Professor Thorpe gave the Leverhulme Lectures at imperial College on "The flexibility and mobility of frameworks" in 2009.
Lecture 1: Why are some structures stable and others flexible? pptx (33MB)
Lecture 2: Flexibility and materials pptx (12MB)
Lecture 3: Flexibility and biological function pptx (112MB)

The Leverhulme Trust was founded by William Hesketh Lever, a successful Victorian entrepreneur. He formed the Lever Brothers Company, now known as Unilever, PLC. The Leverhulme Visiting Professorship is one of the most prestigious awards in the United Kingdom.