Edward Brian Davies (1944-2025)
The EMS is deeply saddened to hear of the death of Edward Brian Davies, and we send our condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and students.
Davies, who was 80, passed away on June 2, 2025 leaving behind an extraordinary legacy in mathematical analysis and spectral theory.
After graduating with first-class honors in Mathematics from Jesus College, Oxford in 1965, Davies completed his PhD in 1968 and began a distinguished career that would span over four decades. Following early positions at Princeton and MIT, he became a Tutorial Fellow at St. John's College, Oxford, before accepting a Chair in Mathematics at King's College London in 1981, where he served until his retirement in 2010.
Davies' vision extended far beyond individual research achievements. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1995 and served as President of the London Mathematical Society from 2007 to 2009, receiving both the Senior Berwick Prize in 1998 and the Pólya Prize in 2011. Together with Ari Laptev, he founded the Journal of Spectral Theory, published by the European Mathematical Society, serving as its founding Editor-in-Chief from 2010 to 2014 and establishing it as a premier publication in the field.
Davies was instrumental in transforming the landscape of mathematical analysis in the UK. He played a crucial role in attracting exceptional analysts from the former Soviet Union to Britain, helping create what became an internationally leading group of mathematicians working in partial differential equations and spectral analysis. His weekly analysis seminars grew from six participants to over thirty, fundamentally strengthening the field across London's mathematical institutions.
Davies' research contributions were profound and wide-ranging, from his early work on quantum theory of open systems to his pioneering results on heat kernel bounds and spectral theory of non-self-adjoint operators. His monograph "Heat Kernels and Spectral Theory" alone garnered over 1,250 citations, demonstrating his exceptional ability as both researcher and expositor.
Davies' passing represents an big loss to the mathematical community. His dedication, combined with his openness to computational methods and his commitment to nurturing international collaboration, created institutions and networks that continue to shape mathematical research across Europe and beyond.
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