John Stuart Wilson

John Stuart Wilson is a Research Fellow at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, and Honorary Professor at the University of Leipzig. His work focuses on group theory and related areas.

• Current roles: Departmental Research Fellow (Oxford), Fellow (Cambridge), Honorary Professor (Leipzig)
• Previously: Professor of Mathematics at Oxford (2004–2010), Mason Chair of Mathematics at Birmingham (1994–2003)
• Visiting appointments: Université de Genève, University of California at San Diego, ETH Zürich, Berlin

Research Interests

Wilson specializes in profinite groups, finite and infinite soluble groups, model theory of groups, and branch groups. His research includes groundbreaking results on word growth of groups, finitely presented groups, and generation problems for finite simple groups. Notable contributions include probabilistic criteria for solubility in finite groups and structural theorems for finitely generated subgroups of the Grigorchuk group.

Editorial and Other Roles

He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Group Theory from its foundation until December 2017. Beyond academia, Wilson is actively involved in music, singing with choirs including the Oxford Bach Choir, Zürcher Bach Chor, Leipziger Bach Chor, and Christ Church Cathedral Singers.