There is going to be a new faculty member in the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge University. The current Lucasian Chair, Stephen Hawking, is turning 67 on January 8, 2009, and will reach the manditory retirement age.

The chair was founded in 1663. Past holders of the chair are:

1664 Isaac Barrow
1669 Sir Isaac Newton
1702 William Whiston
1711 Nicolas Saunderson
1739 John Colson
1760 Edward Waring
1798 Isaac Milner
1820 Robert Woodhouse
1822 Thomas Turton
1826 Sir George Airy
1828 Charles Babbage
1839 Joshua King
1849 Sir George Stokes
1903 Sir Joseph Larmor
1932 Paul Dirac
1969 Sir M. James Lighthill
1980 Stephen Hawking

There has been no announcement of who the next recipient will be.

[via Math in the News]