I am pleased to report on the activities of the NZ Mathematical Society for the year 1994/95.
Mathematical and Information Sciences Council
One of the most exciting and significant developments over the last two years has been the establishment of the Mathematical and Information Sciences Council of NZ, comprising executive representatives of the NZMS, the NZ Statistical Association, the Operational Research Society of NZ, the NZ Association of Mathematics Teachers, the Informatics group of the NZ Computer Society, and Fellows of the Royal Society of NZ. This Council has now been accredited by the Royal Society of NZ as its standing committee for Mathematical and Information Sciences, with Graeme Wake (our electoral college representative) as convenor. As well as providing liaison between the constituent societies, it has the prospect of becoming a strong and effective lobby group for well over 2000 professional mathematicians, statisticians and mathematics teachers in New Zealand.
Joint Meeting with Australian Mathematical Society
The Council of the Australian Mathematical Society has enthusiastically
agreed to our proposal to hold a joint conference in Auckland,
during the
week 7-11 July 1997. This will be the first such meeting after a break of
several years, but now that NZ universities are moving towards semesters I hope
it will not be so long before the next one! It should be a great event, with
possible joint participation also by the Statistical Association, and with the
likely attraction of many overseas participants and speakers to and from the
1997 Congress of the International Association of Mathematical Physicists to be
held in Brisbane the following week.
International Mathematical Union
Last year I attended the General Assembly of the International Mathematical Union in Luzern, two
days before
the International Congress of Mathematicians in Zurich. Aside from the
usual politics of electing IMU committees, it was announced that the next
ICM is to be held in Berlin in 1998, and that the IMU has designated the year
2000 as "World Mathematical Year". Also a provisional bid was lodged by
Australia to host the ICM in 2002, which of course I was very pleased to
support as NZ delegate. I am grateful to the Royal Society of NZ for
assistance with my travel costs in attending this meeting.
National issues
The NZMS made a positive submission on the establishment of the Marsden Fund (for basic research), and supported a proposal that Quantitative Methodologies for Generic Modelling be designated as a "key science area" by the Ministry for Research, Science and Technology. Also submissions were made to the NZ Qualifications Authority on their draft unit standards in Mathematics, and Council is keeping a watching brief on possible changes to Bursary exams.
Visiting Lecturers
The fifth Forder Lecturer is Elmer Rees, of the University of Edinburgh, a particularly appropriate choice in this Aitken Centenary year as he is the current holder of the Chair previously occupied by Aitken in Edinburgh. We are grateful to the British Council and the London Mathematical Society for supporting his visit.
The 1995 NZMS Visiting Lecturer is Roger Grimshaw (Professor of Applied Mathematics at Monash University), whose tour in November this year will be co-ordinated by Ernie Kalnins. Council is in the process of selecting the NZMS Visiting Lecturer for 1996.
Financial Grants
Council has made the following grants between May 1994 and July 1995:
NZ Mathematics Colloquium 1995 $ 1500
Student travel for 1995
(eight students) 2000
NZ Journal of Mathematics 1000
Forder Lecturer 1995 750
Research fund assistance (one grant) 500
Donation to NZ Mathematical
Olympiad Committee 500
Total $ 6250
Careers brochure and posters
The NZMS collaborated with the NZ Statistical Association and university departments in the production late last year of an upbeat careers brochure and posters on the theme "Maths adds Opportunities". These have been widely circulated to schools around the country, and the feedback has been very positive. Our thanks and almost all of the credit for their production must go to Liz Godfrey (a Liaison Officer at the University of Auckland).
NZMS Student Prize
The NZMS Council has established an annual prize for the best talk or paper presented by a student at the NZ Mathematics Colloquium. Known as the Aitken Prize, in honour of the Dunedin-born mathematician Alexander Craig Aitken (1895-1967), this prize will be awarded for the first time in 1995.
NZMS Research Award
NZ Mathematical Society Research Awards for 1995 go to Dr Vladimir Pestov (Victoria University of Wellington) "for his creative and ingenious research in areas ranging from topological groups and Lie theory to the nonstandard analysis of superspace, in which he has solved long-standing open problems as well as demonstrating his breadth and depth of understanding and a gift for elegant and colourful exposition", and to Dr Neil Watson (University of Canterbury) "for an outstanding series of research articles on harmonic functions and potential theory, in which he has introduced new ideas and tools, and deep analyses, that have resulted in new and improved approaches to classical theorems and led to their generalisation to more abstract situations".
The judges for this year's round described the field of nominees as truly outstanding, and considered that the Society "could have chosen to make several awards all in this one year, with great and justifiable pride in these achievements of its members". I am grateful to the judges for their efforts, and especially for their encouraging comments on the standard and health of mathematical research in New Zealand.
Honorary Memberships
The NZMS Council has elected Professors Roy Kerr and Wilf Malcolm to Honorary Life Memberships of the Society, in recognition of their contributions to mathematics in NZ over several years.
Personal
It is a pleasure to offer congratulations to a long list of NZMS members for awards and distinctions received over the last year: to Bernhard Neumann (NZMS Honorary Life Member) on his award of Companion of the Order of Australia, Rod Downey on his award of the NZ Association of Scientists Research Medal for 1994 and on his appointment to a personal chair in Mathematics at Victoria University of Wellington, Ivan Reilly on his appointment to a personal chair in Mathematics and Mathematics Education at the University of Auckland, Vernon Squire on his election to a Fellowship of the Royal Society of NZ, and Mike Steel on his award by the RSNZ of the Hamilton Memorial Prize for 1994.
With sadness we note the deaths of J.T. Campbell in July 1994 and Peter Bryant in November 1994, and offer sympathy to their families. Both made substantial contributions to the NZ mathematical community, and they will be missed by all of us.
Finally I would like to thank members of Council and others for their valuable contributions to the Society's activities, especially Margaret Morton (Secretary), Robert Chan and Mike Hendy, who complete their terms on Council this month, Mark McGuinness (Treasurer), John Shanks (Membership Secretary), and John Butcher and Mike Hendy, Editors of the Journal and the Newsletter respectively. Also I would like to offer particular thanks to Derek Holton for representing the NZMS on the NZQA's Advisory Group (not an easy exercise), to Harold Henderson (President of the NZ Statistical Association) for his regular communication on several important issues, and to all those people who provided support and advice during my term as President.
Marston Conder
29 August 1995