Welcome

Welcome to the Toronto Math News Blog.

Here you will find news stories and information relevant to the Department of Mathematics.  We have stories on events, awards, community participation, achievements of our faculty, staff, students and alumni, and much more.

If you have a story to tell please let us know at webmaster@math.utoronto.ca

Please note: we have recently added our archived stories to the new blog format and apologize for any date errors.  We have attempted to preserve the original story dates where possible.

Math+ Receives 2022 Pillar Sponsorship

Math+ is grateful to be the recipient of a 2022 Pillar Sponsorship, continuing our relationship with TD insurance and MBNA. In January 2022, Math+ was awarded $8000 to support our outreach and engagement programs that bring mathematics to the general community outside the university, particularly students in grades one to twelve and elementary school teachers.

The Math+ Outreach and Engagement provide a wide suite of programs including math activity classes, a mentorship program, school field trips, competitions, summer math camps, youth STEM conferences, and a Girls in STEM program. Our outreach programs connects students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty in the department to help grade-school students with a passion for math to delve deeper into this fascinating subject than their schools accommodate. Equally as important, we provide resources for children and teachers to strengthen their math skills and discover a side of math that they didn’t know existed.

Our 2022 Pillar Sponsorship will specifically be directed to the Math Mentorship program, pairing high school students with graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. The program gives high school students an opportunity to conduct a math research project under the guidance of their mentor. Pillar funding will also be used to support the “Count Me In” Teachers’ Institute, an intervention into the crisis in elementary school math teaching, allowing us to offer this professional development conference for nearly 400 participants. Finally, a portion of the funds will go towards needs-tested bursaries for our youth math activity programs.

The Pillar Sponsorship Program is proudly sponsored by U of T affinity partners Manulife, MBNA, and TD Insurance. These companies offer preferred rates and rewards on financial products for U of T alumni and a portion of the proceeds from these affinity products go to supporting initiatives at U of T that benefit students and alumni. Discover the benefits of affinity products at http://affinity.utoronto.ca.

Math+ wishes to thank MBNA and TD Insurance for their continued support of our initiatives.

For more information on Math+ programs, visit https://mathplus.math.utoronto.ca/.

Questions? Email outreach@math.toronto.edu

 

Math+ Receives 2020 Pillar Sponsorship

Math+ is thrilled to be the recipient of a 2020 Pillar Sponsorship, continuing our relationship with MBNA and embarking on a new relationship with TD Insurance. In January 2020, Math+ was awarded $6000 to support our outreach and engagement programs that bring mathematics to the general community outside the university, particularly students in grades one to twelve and elementary school teachers.

Math+ provides a suite of programs including math activity classes, a high school mentorship program, school field trips, camps, competitions, advanced classes, youth science conferences, and a Girls in STEM program. We play a role in the national math outreach community by marking Canada’s premiere open math contest (the Canadian Open Math Challenge) and hosting the largest Canadian site of the international Math Kangaroo Contest which brings thousands of grade 1-12 students to U of T’s three campuses each year. Our innovative programs allow teams of university students to help grade-school students with a passion for math to delve deeper into this fascinating subject than their schools accommodate. Equally as important, we provide ways for children and teachers who have weak math skills or negative feelings about math to strengthen skills and discover a side of math that they didn’t know existed.

Our 2020 Pillar Sponsorship will specifically be directed towards the research, design, and fabrication of math exhibits that we can use at pavilion events such as Alumni Weekend, Science Rendezvous, and other community math fairs to excite and engage the public about math. Pillar funding will also be used to support the “Count Me In” Teachers’ Institute, an intervention into the crisis in elementary school math teaching, allowing us to keep this professional development conference free for the nearly 400 participants. Approximately 200 of the teacher attendees each year are U of T alumni, and we are pleased to be able to support their ongoing professional learning and help them help Ontario students to learn and enjoy mathematics and build skills for life. Finally, a portion of the funds will go towards needs-tested bursaries for our youth math activity programs.

The Pillar Sponsorship Program is proudly sponsored by U of T affinity partners Manulife, MBNA, and TD Insurance. These companies offer preferred rates and rewards on financial products for U of T alumni and a portion of the proceeds from these affinity products go to supporting initiatives at U of T that benefit students and alumni. Discover the benefits of affinity products at http://affinity.utoronto.ca.

Math+ wishes to thank MBNA and TD Insurance for their continued support of our initiatives.

For more information on Math+ programs, visit https://mathplus.math.utoronto.ca/.

Questions? Email outreach@math.toronto.edu

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Canadian Team Win Medals in 2019 IMO

The Canadian Math Team placed well at the The 60th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).  The six team members all won medals with more than 600 high school student competing all across the world.

One of our faculty members, Jacob Tsimerman, is the Chair of the IMO committee and is “incredibly proud of our team’s brilliant performance.” Tsimerman added: “The IMO is the apex of competitive mathematics at the high school level, and our students have represented our country incredibly well.”

The team results are as follows:

  • Victor Rong [Toronto], Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute, Toronto, ON – Gold medal
  • Howard Halim [Toronto], University of Toronto Schools, Toronto, ON – Silver medal
  • Thomas Guo [Markham], Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH, USA – Bronze medal
  • David Tang [Toronto], University of Toronto Schools, Toronto, ON – Bronze medal
  • Sebastian Jeon [New Jersey], Bergen County Academies, Hackensack, NJ, USA – Bronze medal
  • William Zhao [Richmond Hill], Richmond Hill High School, Richmond Hill, ON – Bronze medal

The full press release can be found here:

Jim Arthur and George Elliott join the CMS Second Inaguaral Class of Fellows

Jim Arthur and George Elliott become fellows of the CMS’s Second Inaugural Class of Fellows.

The press release from CMS can be found here.

Catherine Sulem is the 2019 recipient of the AWM-SIAM Sonia Kovalevsky Lecture prize

Catherine Sulem is the 2019 recipient of the AWM-SIAM Sonia Kovalevsky Lecture prize.

The joint AWM-SIAM prize was established in 2002 and it is awarded to a female researcher in the scientific or engineering community whose work highlights the achievements of women in applied and computational mathematics.

Sulem will present her prize lecture at the 9th International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM 2019).

More on the story can be found here.

Jacob Tsimerman awarded the 2019 Coxeter-James Prize

The department is pleased to announce Jacob Tsimerman will be awarded the 2019 Coxeter-James Prize.

The media release can be accessed here.

The Coxeter-James Prize is awarded annually since 1978 and it recognizes young mathematicians who have made outstanding contributions to mathematical research.

Information on past winners can be found here.

Jeremy Quastel named the recipient of the 2019 Jeffery-Williams Prize

The department congratulates Prof. Jeremy Quastel for being named the recipient of the 2019 Jeffery-Williams Prize. Quastel will receive the award during the CMS Summer Meeting in Regina, Saskatchewan, June 7-10, 2019.

The media release can be accessed here.

The Jeffery-Williams Prize is awarded annually since 1968 and it recognizes mathematicians who have made outstanding contributions to mathematical research.

For more information on past recipients, please visit Jeffery-Williams Prize