Emeritus Professor Richard Hartley FAA FRS, of the School of Computing at the Australian National University (ANU), has been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the oldest known scientific academy in continuous existence. The academy recognises individuals who have made a “substantial contributions to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science and medical science.”
“I am honoured to be able to join this society of distinguished scientists and for the support of colleagues and the ANU,” Professor Hartley said.
Professor Hartley is known for his work in computer vision and is one of the founders of the research field of muti-view geometry, the foundation behind the computation of 3D models.
At ANU, his pioneering research focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), image processing and computer vision. These are the technology behind tolls such as Google Maps and Google Earth 3-D view of locations. He has made important and pioneering contributions in computer vision, both theoretical and applied, especially in the mathematical underpinnings of the field. This has led to a wide range of practical and commercial applications. His research has been used to build 3.D models of archaeological sites, and to create and detect deepfake images and videos.
“I would like to congratulate Professor Hartley on behalf of the School of Computing and the ANU. It is fantastic to see our scientists being recognised by the Royal Society for their achievements. Richard has made exceptional contributions to the field of Computer Vision and Machine Learning during his time at the ANU,” said Professor Tony Hosking, Director of the School of Computing
Professor Hartley received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from ANU. After completing a PhD in pure mathematics, specialising in knot theory at the University of Toronto he held academic positions in mathematics at University of Missouri, Frankfurt and Columbia Universities. He then went to Standford to complete a Masters in Computing. He spent some time at General Electric working on flight simulation, Computer-Aided Design for integrated circuits, and later switched to research in the field of computer vision. Since joining the Australian National University in 2001, he has continued to advance geometric methods in computer vision and Machine Learning.
He is a published author, co-authoring the influential book in computer vision ‘Multiple View Geometry in Computer vision’ with Andrew Zisserman (FRS). He is also a widely published academic with one of his publications reaching over 29,000 citations. Professor Hartley was also elected to the Australian Academy of Science in 2005, and in 2023 received the Hannan Medal for his outstanding career.
This prestigious appointment to the UK’s national scientific academy puts him in the company of Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, David Attenborough and Dorothy Hodgkin. This year he joins other outstanding Australian scientists including Queensland University’s Professor Barry Dickson, University of Melbourne’s and Professor David Komander and pro vice-chancellor Professor Ivan Marusic FTSE, and Professor Douglas Macfarlane FTSE from Monash University.