Robert May was the leading theoretical ecologist of his generation. He started his career as a theoretical physicist and began the transition to ecology soon after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard. His mathematical analysis of the stability of ecological communities challenged orthodox views and spawned a new research agenda. He demonstrated that many different patterns of population fluctuations, including chaotic behaviour, could arise from simple mathematical models. Together with R. M. Anderson he transformed the mathematical modelling of infectious diseases. All of his work was characterised by his remarkable ability to reduce complex problems to their essential simplicities. His achievements were recognised by the award of numerous major international prizes. May also served as government chief scientific advisor (UK) between 1995 and 2000, and as president of the Royal Society between 2000 and 2005.

罗伯特·梅是他这一代领先的理论生态学家。他的职业生涯始于理论物理学家，并在哈佛完成博士后研究后不久开始向生态学过渡。他对生态群落稳定性的数学分析挑战了正统观点并催生了新的研究议程。他证明了许多不同的人口波动模式，包括混沌行为，都可能来自简单的数学模型。他与 RM Anderson 一起改变了传染病的数学模型。他所有的工作都以他将复杂问题简化为本质简单的非凡能力为特征。他的成就获得了众多国际重要奖项的认可。梅还在 1995 年至 2000 年期间担任政府首席科学顾问（英国），并在 2000 年至 2005 年期间担任皇家学会主席。