Derrick Crothers is a Northern Irish

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

, physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

 and former politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

.

Crothers grew up in Cookstown

Cookstown

Cookstown may refer to either of the following:*Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland*Cookstown, Ontario, Canada*Cookstown, New Jersey, United States...

 and studied at Rainey Endowed School

Rainey Endowed School

Rainey Endowed School,known colloquially as "The Rainey", is a voluntary grammar school in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The school was founded in 1707 and currently has an enrolment of approximately 750 pupils. The school borders three counties and draws its students from each...

, where he won the top mathematics and Science State Exhibition prize in 1959. He then read mathematics at Balliol College, Oxford, before obtaining a doctorate from the Queen's University of Belfast

Queen's University of Belfast

Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...

 in 1966. In the following years, he lectured at Queen's, undertook research at University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

, worked as a tutor for the Open University

Open University

The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...

, and was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Physics

Institute of Physics

The Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000....

.

At the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973

-Seats summary:-Source:* http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fa73.htm...

, Crothers was elected for the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....

 in South Antrim

South Antrim (Assembly constituency)

South Antrim is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...

, receiving 5,975 first preference votes. He did not stand for the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention

The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the UK Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland....

 or subsequent assemblies, but did contest the Lower Falls area of Belfast City Council

Belfast City Council

Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...

 at the 1989 local elections

Northern Ireland local elections, 1989

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland in 1989.-Background:The elections took place after a turbulent period in Northern Irish politics. The signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in November 1985 had been followed by widespread protests by those in the Unionist community...

. He took only 135 votes and was not elected.

In 1985, Crothers was promoted to a Personal Chair in Theoretical Physics at Queen's. He was elected Member of the Royal Irish Academy

Royal Irish Academy

The Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...

 in 1991 and Fellow of the American Physical Society

American Physical Society

The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...

in 1994, before retiring in 2007.