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CMS/SMC
MEDIA RELEASE — March 4, 2020

Canadian Mathematical Society

MEDIA RELEASE
March 4, 2020

CMS Doctoral Prize to be renamed CMS Blair Spearman Doctoral Prize

Dr. Blair Spearman

OTTAWA — The Canadian Mathematical Society is pleased to announce that as of 2021, the CMS Doctoral Prize will be renamed as the CMS Blair Spearman Doctoral Prize in honour of the late mathematician, Dr. Blair Kenneth Spearman.

The Spearman Family has generously pledged to donate an endowment to the Canadian Mathematical Society in 2019 to fund the CMS Doctoral Prize. The President of the Society, Dr. Mark Lewis, says he is thrilled that this prize can honour the memory of the late Blair Spearman: "This prize is a wonderful way to recognise outstanding work by doctoral students from Canadian universities, and we thank the Spearman family for their generosity."

The Doctoral Prize recognizes outstanding performance by a doctoral student who graduated from a Canadian university in the preceding year. The first award was presented in 1997.

The CMS Blair Spearman Doctoral Prize consists of a framed certificate, an award of $2,000, a two-year membership with the CMS, and the opportunity to present a plenary lecture at a CMS meeting.

About Dr. Blair Kenneth Spearman

Dr. Blair Kenneth Spearman was born on September 29, 1951, in Ottawa, Ontario. Although he did not discover the divine beauty of Mathematics until he was a third-year student at Carleton University, once he did, he devoted his life to it, finishing his Ph.D. at Penn State University in record time. He was a professor at University of British Columbia - Okanagan, receiving UBC Okanagan's first Teaching Excellence and Innovation Award, and consistently winning the same award year after year. He touched and changed so many of his students' careers and lives with his tireless effort and devotion. He was not only an exceptionally talented, first-rate mathematician who published over 115 mathematical papers in well-known journals, but also an absolutely wonderful and humble human being. His legacy will live on in those he left behind and will inspire young mathematicians to follow in his footsteps, strive for excellence, and be humble human beings.

About the Canadian Mathematical Society

The CMS is the main national organization whose goal is to promote and advance the discovery, learning and application of mathematics. The Society’s activities cover the whole spectrum of mathematics including: scientific meetings, research publications, and the promotion of excellence in mathematics competitions that recognize outstanding student achievements.

For more information, please contact:

Termeh Kousha
Executive Director
Canadian Mathematical Society
Tel: (613) 733-2662
director@cms.math.ca
or Dr. Mark Lewis (Alberta)
President
Tel: (780) 492-0197
president@cms.math.ca