Roy Kerr

Roy Kerr CNZM FRSNZ
Roy Kerr with his wife, 2009
Born	(1934-05-16) 16 May 1934 (age 82) Kurow, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Fields	Mathematics
Alma mater	University of New Zealand University of Cambridge
Doctoral students	G.C. Debney D. Farnsworth W.D. Halford M. Mezzino G.J. Weir R. Wilson
Known for	Kerr metric and Kerr black hole
Notable awards	Hector Medal (1982) Hughes Medal (1984) Rutherford Medal (Royal Society of New Zealand) (1993) Albert Einstein Medal (2013) Crafoord Prize (2016)

Roy Patrick Kerr CNZM FRSNZ (born 16 May 1934) is a New Zealand mathematician who discovered the Kerr geometry, an exact solution to the Einstein field equation of general relativity. His solution models the gravitational field outside an uncharged rotating massive object, including a rotating black hole.

Kerr was born in 1934 in Kurow, New Zealand. Born into a dysfunctional family, his mother was forced to leave when he was three. When his father went to war, he was sent to a farm. After his father's return from war, they moved to Christchurch. He managed to get into St Andrew's College, a private school, as his father had served under a former headmaster. His solution to Einstein's equations predicted spinning black holes before they were discovered.

Kerr is married to Margaret. In 2013 they moved from Christchurch to Tauranga.

Kerr was a notable bridge player representing New Zealand internationally in the mid 1970s. He was co-author of the Symmetric Relay System, a bidding system.

Kerr's mathematical talent was first recognised while he was still a high school student at St Andrew's College. Although there was no maths teacher there at the time he was able in 1951 to go straight into third year Mathematics at the Canterbury University College of the University of New Zealand, the precursor to the University of Canterbury. Their regulations did not permit him to graduate until 1954 and so it was not until September 1955 that he moved to the University of Cambridge, where he earned his PhD in 1959. His dissertation concerned the difficult problem of the equations of motion in general relativity.