York University Professor, Thomas Salisbury is the recipient of the 2015 Graham Wright Award for Distinguished Service in recognition of his sustained and significant contributions to the Canadian mathematical community and to the Canadian Mathematical Society.

Mark Mac Lean (University of British Columbia) is the recipient of the 2015 Adrien Pouliot Award for his excellence in teaching and contributions to mathematics education in Canada, particularly Aboriginal education. He has worked with the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) on several Aboriginal mathematics education projects, including workshops for teachers.

Philippe Gille is the recipient of the 2015 G. de B. Robinson Award for his paper Octonion algebras over rings are not determined by their norms (Canad. Math. Bull. Vol. 57 (2), 2014 pp. 303–309). The award is given out to recognize outstanding contributions to the Canadian Journal of Mathematics (CJM) or the Canadian Mathematical Bulletin (CMB). Gille’s paper is an example of how powerful abstract techniques in one area of mathematics can be used to decisively settle long-standing problems in another area.

Math Team Canada placed ninth out of 104 countries at the 56th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The team achieved impressive individual results. Zhuo Qun (Alex) Song (Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.) and Kevin Sun (Phillips Exeter Academy) both earned gold medals and Yan (Bill) Huang (West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, West Windsor, N.J.) Michael Pang (Fort Richmond Collegiate, Winnipeg, Man.), Alexander Whatley (North Houston Academy of Science and Mathematics, Houston, Texas) and Jinhao (Hunter) Xu (University Hill Secondary School, Vancouver, B.C.) earned bronze medals.

Six of the country’s best mathematical students will represent Canada this year as part of Math Team Canada. Yan (Bill) Huang (West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South), Michael Pang (Fort Richmond Collegiate), Zhuo Qun (Alex) Song (Phillips Exeter Academy), Kevin Sun (Phillips Exeter Academy), Alexander Whatley (North Houston Academy of Science and Mathematics) and Jinhao (Hunter) Xu (University Hill Secondary School) will represent Canada at the 56th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in July.

Richard Nowakowski will talk games in a public lecture on Friday, June 5 at 5 p.m. as part of the Canadian Mathematical Society’s Summer Meeting at the University of Prince Edward Island.  “Games in general have very nice mathematical formulas,” said Nowakowski. “It may look like there are a number of possible moves, but mathematical analysis focuses on just a few.”

Ten remarkable mathematics students earned sixth place for Canada in the 27th Asian Pacific Mathematical Olympiad (APMO). Over 300 students from more than 30 countries wrote the four-hour APMO exam on March 9. “I am incredibly proud of our students,” said International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) Chair Dorette Pronk. “Placing sixth overall is a huge accomplishment and these students have worked very hard to compete at this level.”

The top Canadian mathematical minds were revealed with the results of the 47th Sun Life Financial Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO), which was held on April 1, 2015.  The top three students were Alexander Whatley (1st Prize), Kevin Sun (2nd Prize) and Bill Yan Huang (3rd Prize). Four students received honourable mention for their outstanding CMO results including: Caleb Ji, Michael Pang, Zhuoqun (Alex) Song and Kai Sun.

Two outstanding mathematicians Yuval Filmus (University of Toronto) and Hector H. Pasten Vasquez (Queen’s University) have been awarded with the 2015 Doctoral Prize. Yuval’s research is predominately focused in the area of extremal combinatorics and Hector completed his doctorate focused on number theory and logic. This is the first time that the Canadian Mathematical Society has awarded the Doctoral Prize to two recipients.

Alejandro Adem (UBC), one of the world’s leading experts in group cohomology and the geometry of group actions, is the recipient of the 2015 CMS Jeffery-Williams Prize. Alejandro is fascinated by the deep mathematics and beauty associated to symmetry groups, which manifest themselves both in nature and across a variety of scientific disciplines. He has supervised numerous students and postdocs, including 20 at the PhD level and has delivered over 300 lectures around the world.

University of British Columbia Professor Dong Li is one of the leading young mathematicians in Canada and the recipient of the 2015 CMS Coxeter-James prize. Dong is described as, “one of the top young researchers working the broad area of Analysis and Partial Differential Equations,” by his colleagues. His main research field is mathematical fluid dynamics, nonlinear dispersive equations and mathematical physics.

University of Victoria professor Jane J. Ye is the recipient of the 2015 Krieger-Nelson Prize for her outstanding research contributions. Jane’s research includes optimization, optimal control theory and variational analysis, and its application in economics, engineering, management science, operations research and statistics. She has published over 70 articles and her work has been cited in almost 700 articles.

Simon Fraser University (SFU) Senior Lecturer Jamie Mulholland’s innovative teaching techniques have earned him the 2015 CMS Excellence in Teaching Award. Jamie’s colleagues describe him as a tremendously adaptable and flexible teacher –a master in the art of balancing the use of contemporary technology with face-to-face interactions.

Sina Abbasi (Richmond Hill High School, Richmond Hill, Ont), Jinhao Xu (University Hill Secondary School, Vancouver, B.C.) and Henry Heng Xia (Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School, Vancouver, B.C.) were recognized as the top students in Canada for the 19th annual 2014 Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC).