Teachers said I could be a boxer, but never a mathematician
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Role model Dr Nira Chamberlain has it all figured out.
By Poppy Brady
Teachers running a careers day at Dr Nira Chamberlain’s school looked at him in disbelief when he told them he would one day like to be a professional mathematician when he grew up.
“No, no,” they said. “With your physique you should be a boxer. You’d make a very good one. Look at your jawbone.” How misguided they were in yet another example of racial stereotyping.
But Birmingham-born Nira had it all figured out. With a mind far brighter than those trying to push him into a boxing ring, he has made it right to the top of the mathematics world.
He is listed by the Science Council as "one of the UK’s top 100 scientists" and last year joined the exclusive list of only 30 UK mathematicians who are featured in the world-famous Who’s Who, the autobiographical reference book.
He may have been described by Loughborough University as one of the greatest scientific minds, but Nira’s feet remain firmly on the ground and he e...
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