Physicist and pioneer of parallel computing. Born in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, Wallace was educated at Hawick High School and the University of Edinburgh. He worked in Princeton (USA) and Southampton before returning to Edinburgh as the Tait Professor of Mathematical Physics in 1979. His research involved theoretical high energy physics, including quantum field theory, group theory, the theory of phase transitions and lattice gauge theories of elementary particles. In this work, Wallace was able to successfully exploit massively parallel computers and he founded the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre in 1990, becoming its first Director.
He was the appointed Vice-Chancellor of Loughborough University (1994 - 2006), before moving to Cambridge as Professor of Mathematical Sciences, Director of the Isaac Newton Institute, and as Master of Churchill College. he retired to Edinburgh in 2014.
He served as a Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire (2001-06), a member of Court of the University of St Andrews and a trustee of the Bill McLaren Foundation. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1982, and served as its Vice President 2013-17.
Wallace was awarded a CBE for services to parallel computing (1996) and knighted for services to UK science, technology and engineering (2004). His several honorary doctorates include Heriot-Watt University (2002) and the University of Edinburgh (2003).
