CANADIAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY'S 2007 ADRIEN POULIOT PRIZE WINNER

Ottawa Ontario - The Canadian Mathematical Society is pleased to announce that Professor Richard Nowakowski of Dalhousie University is the winner of the 2007 Adrien Pouliot Award. Dr. Nowakowski will receive the award at the Society's 2007 Winter Meeting in London, Ontario.

The award is an acknowledgment of Dr. Nowakowski's outstanding contributions to mathematics education locally, regionally, and nationally. Key among his contributions to mathematics in Canada has been his long-term involvement with and leadership of the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) and the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). In 1986, Richard became Chair of the CMO Committee and served in this capacity for three years. In 1988 he became involved with the IMO, first as the Deputy Team Leader, and then as Team Leader in 1989 and 1990 and then again from 1994 to 1996. During these years he was Chair or a member of related CMS committees.

In his first years at Dalhousie University, Richard Nowakowsi was the driving force behind getting mathematics out of the confines of the Department and the University. In addition to high school presentations and media appearances throughout his career, he arranged and helped with local "Math in the Mall" exhibits and activities in the 1990s. Later he was instrumental in establishing the "Nova Scotia Math League" (a set of mathematics problem solving competitions) and the "Math Circles" (a series of activities to foster interest in mathematics among talented high school students). These two programs have been most successful and have got more school children interested in mathematics than any other initiative at the University.

In addition to these outreach activities, Richard Nowakowski has been involved with the teaching and learning of calculus in his own department, and has constantly provided leadership, guidance, and much-needed innovation for this most important sequence of courses. He also served on various local and regional committees on teaching at both the school and university level. In the early 1990s Richard was involved in the planning and implementation of an innovative integrated science program and played a central role in the integration of mathematics into this successful program. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to teaching and learning at Dalhousie University, he received the Faculty of Science Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1996.

Richard Nowakowski is also an active researcher and author as well as a successful graduate teacher and supervisor in the rapidly developing field of combinatorial game theory. He served as Department Chair from 1998 to 2003.

Dr. Richard J. Nowakowski was born in England and later mowed to Calgary, where he received his honors B.Sc. in 1974. He then completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees under the supervision of Richard Guy. In 1979, he joined the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Dalhousie University and was appointed Full Professor in 1992.

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