WHERE WERE YOU WHEN Ruth Lawrence went to Oxford - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Celebrity WHERE WERE YOU WHEN Ruth Lawrence went to Oxford By You Magazine - June 16, 2019 The child prodigy (and her overbearing father) were constant curiosities, says Miranda Thompson. ‘You’re cramping my style, dad!’ Ruth and her father Harry. Image: Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo. There are many ways to make an entrance when you start university – but cycling to lectures on the back of a tandem steered by your father probably isn’t on the list for most freshers. However, aged 12 and dressed in a cap and gown, Ruth Lawrence’s arrival at St Hugh’s College at Oxford University hit the headlines. The budding mathematician had made history two years earlier when she’d become the youngest person to win a place at Oxford. When she was five, her father Harry gave up his job as a computer consultant to teach Ruth and her younger sister Rebecca at home in Huddersfield. Neither Ruth nor Rebecca was allowed friends of their own age as he thought they would ‘taint them with trivial conversation and pointless games – childhood’s not a time to be playing around, but a time to be developing’. Following Ruth’s offer from Oxford, they moved to the city and the father and daughter became a familiar sight as they cycled around campus. Ruth’s parents’ marriage ended shortly after the move, but Harry continued to be actively involved in her education, sitting by her side in tutorials and lectures, while her mother remained with Rebecca. Ruth, who said she ‘didn’t take much part in student life’, completed her studies in two years (instead of the usual three), graduating in 1985 as the youngest British person ever to gain a first-class degree. She achieved a PhD in 1989 and moved to the US, followed by her father, to teach at Harvard. However, their relationship became more distant when, aged 27, Ruth decided to take a job in Jerusalem and married a fellow maths expert just six years younger than her father. Now a mother of four and a devout Jew, Ruth is an expert in the obscure field of mathematical knots (a type of algebra) and teaches at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Harry reportedly last visited his daughter there at her wedding in 1998. Also that month… Photo by AndreCsillag/REX/Shutterstock​ Neil Kinnock’s election to Labour leader was overshadowed when he fell over during a press call on Brighton beach. 250,000 people marched for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) against the arrival of Cruise missiles at Greenham Common, Berkshire. Tory cabinet minister Cecil Parkinson resigned after having an affair with his former secretary Sara Keays, who was expecting his baby. ‘Karma Chameleon’ by Culture Club was number one for the whole month. RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR 50 of the best celebrity Halloween costumes of all time Shirley Ballas ‘ Strictly gave me back my hope’ Davina McCall discusses how men can help women going through the menopause Popular in Celebrity TV chef Gino D Acampo on Sardinia Sophia Loren and scary salads May 25, 2017 The Evergreen Goddess Exercise guru Diana Moran on looking fit and July 10, 2017 More more Julianne Moore November 13, 2017 Author Jill Mansell on designer notebooks commissioning art and the family January 16, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES Kelly Hoppen on vodka vintage finds and being a April 4, 2018 ‘ I have no regrets’ Millie Mackintosh on divorce debt and reuniting May 20, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES TV presenter and tennis player Annabel Croft shares her July 1, 2018 Stella Parton ‘ Dolly and I have always been close’ August 12, 2018 Anna Friel on getting jeered in the street shared parenting with September 23, 2018 Queen of primetime Charlotte Riley on juggling rising stardom with pregnancy October 21, 2018 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved