Posted Wednesday 09 December 2009

The Australian Mathematics Trust has announced that two mathematics educators will receive BH Neumann Awards in 2010. They are limited by strict quota to at most three per year for outstanding service to the enrichment of mathematics learning in Australia.

The awardees (in alphabetical order, with brief citations) are:

John Dowsey is in the mathematics education department of the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, and as such is involved in the training of mathematics teachers in Victoria.

For 8 years until 2002 John was a member of the Problems Committee of the Mathematics Challenge for Young Australians, much of that time as Deputy Chair, closely working with the Chair in developing the materials.

Since 2002 John has maintained his role in this work as a moderator, but he has also continued with his work in a number of other roles, particularly as a member of the committee of five mathematicians who compose the problems for the Australian Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad (AIMO), essentially the national Olympiad for students up to year 10.

Cheryl is Winthrop Professor of Mathematics at the University of Western Australia and an ARC Federation Fellow. By any measure Cheryl is one of the very top mathematics researchers in the country. In 1999 she was awarded AM (Member of the Order of Australia). She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and a former President of the Australian Mathematical Society, and she is currently on the Executive of the International Mathematical Union, the first Australian to hold this position.

In addition to her profile as a research mathematician, and more pertinently for the BH Neumann Award, Cheryl has gone well beyond her brief to show a strong interest in mathematics education and the development of talented students. Cheryl has been a member of the Board of the Australian Mathematics Trust since its inception in 1992 and Chair of the Australian Mathematical Olympiad Committee since 2001. She has served on the Educational Advisory Committee of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, and has taken many similar roles both in Western Australia and nationally. Above all, however, Cheryl has used her office to provide an inspiration and help to all teachers aspiring to help students develop their mathematical ability, often in a very direct and personal manner.