Jacques Heyman

Whereas the early work that Heyman carried out on developing the mathematics of plastic theory is invariably linked with Baker, he made a name for himself by translating the theorems worked out for steel into ones that could be used for stone. As a result he has become the world's leading expert in cathedral and church engineering. Having published the results of this theoretical work he was soon approached by an architect with regard to the repair of cracks in a cathedral.

Of particular benefit to the University, in 1971 Jacques Heyman was responsible for the repair and restoration of the great west tower of Ely cathedral. In fact he cannot enter a cathedral without noticing the cracks first of all. Even now as a consultant, he generally has at least one cathedral and a couple of parish churches on his books.

His books on the subject have now been translated into many languages, and he is often called to lecture in Italy, where he has an association with the University of Florence.

Ely cathedral