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.

Registration for the CMS’s largest math competition, the Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC), starts today. 2015 marks the 20th year of the Canada's premier national mathematics competition. The COMC is open to any student with an interest in mathematics and encourages students to explore, discover and learn more about mathematics and problem solving. For more information, please visit comc.math.ca.

The CMS recognizes the important role members play in strengthening the Canadian mathematics community and relies on the continued support of its members. Members help support CMS programs and activities, including meetings, math camps, national prizes and awards, competitions, such as the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), and publications. Renew your membership online by clicking more.

The CMS invites students to submit a design for the 2016 Canada Math T-shirt Design Contest. The contest is open to elementary and high school students and runs from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31. The winning designs will be featured on over 1,000 T-shirts and other CMS promotional items. For more information and full contest guidelines, please visit cms.math.ca.

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’s incredible ninth place finish and Alex Song’s top ranking at the IMO has received a lot of attention in the media this week. The story has gained traction in media outlets and on social media. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and NDP Leader Tom Muclair were two of the many people to offer their congratulations to Alex via Twitter. The CMS has staged Canadian participation in the IMO since 1981 and is one of the many programs that helps promotes the advancement, discovery, learning and application of mathematics in Canada.

The CMS sponsored the first ever Canadian Undergraduate Computer Science Conference (CUCSC) at the University of British Columbia this July. CUCSC showcased undergraduate research in the computing sciences and was inspired by the Canadian Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (CUMC). The CMS is pleased to continue to support initiatives that encourage STEM careers and professional development in Canada. For more information visit cucsc.ok.ubc.ca.

The CMS is proud to announce that Canada will host the second Mathematical Congress of the Americas (MCA). Today marks the two year countdown to the MCA2017, which will be held in Montreal from July 24 to 28, 2017. The congress will include mathematicians and students from North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. MCA2017 highlights mathematical achievements of the Americas and fosters collaboration between the continents' mathematical communities. MCA2017 is staged by the CMS in collaboration with Canadian partners, including the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS), the Fields Institute (FIELDS), Le centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM), and the Atlantic Association for Research in the Mathematical Sciences (AARMS).

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.

The CMS supported the first SSC-CMS-SARGC Undergraduate Poster Competition Awards, held at the Statistical Society of Canada’s Student Conference. Two students, Chelsea Uggenti (Wilfred Laurier University) and Reuben Pereira (University of Toronto), received awards for their respective papers Exploratory data analysis on fire weather variables to observe bias and variability and Comparing methods for modelling aggregated spatial data. The SSC Student Conference was held at Dalhousie University on June 13 in Halifax, N.S, as part of the SSC Annual Meeting.

The trainers and members of Math Team Canada arrived yesterday in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the 56th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). The team travelled from Banff, Alberta where they were training at the Banff International Research Station (BIRS), and will be in Chiang Mai until July 16. The team will participate in the opening ceremonies and other activities, including visiting an elephant camp. The competition will take place on July 9 and 10. Contestants will get three problems and have 4 hours and 30 minutes to complete the exam.

The University of Ottawa recently hosted a mathematics camp from June 25 to 30 in partnership with the Canadian Mathematical Society. Almost 50 grade ten students in Ontario and Québec who were interested in mathematics attended the residential camp. "The camp is an opportunity to give the students a flavour of the power and beauty of mathematics,” said camp co-organizer and University of Ottawa mathematics professor Joseph Khoury. The bilingual camp gives participants an opportunity to play mathematical games, make new friends and hone their mathematics skills. Every summer the CMS stages almost 30 camps for over 1,000 students, in partnership with Canadian universities across the country. Students who attend the camps leave with new friends, new ideas and a new outlook on mathematics.

Math Team Canada will be in Banff, Alberta for two weeks of intensive training at the Banff International Research Institute (BIRS) from June 21 to July 5. The 2015 Summer IMO Training Camp will allow Math Team Canada members to bond and prepare for the IMO in Thailand with their team leaders. The team will compete at the IMO in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from July 4 to 16, 2015.

Volume XIV - Sequences and Series by Margo Kondratieva with Justin Rowsell and Volume XV - Géométrie plane, avec des nombres by Michel Bataille (first French title in the ATOM series!). Order your copies today.

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.

The CMS is pleased to support the annual Séminaire de Mathématiques Supérieures (SMS). The SMS is a high-level summer seminar in pure and applied mathematics at the University of Montreal. The school runs for two weeks every year and is a joint endeavor of the Centre de Recherches Mathematiques, the Fields Institute, the Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. It also receives support from the Institut des Sciences Mathématiques (Montréal), the University of Montréal and the CMS. Two students attending a Canadian institute will receive scholarships from the CMS to participate in the SMS from June 15 to 26. The SMS is currently seeking applications for potential organizers of the 2017 summer school.

Twelve (12) officers and directors have been elected to the CMS Board of Directors and Executive, as a result of the 2015 election that was held on June 6, 2015 at the CMS Annual General Meeting. The CMS would like to thank all members who voted in the advance poll and at the AGM.

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 Canadian Mathematical Society took part in the 2015 Ontario Association for Mathematics Education (OAME) Annual Conference at Humber College from May 7 to 8. CMS staff spoke with math teachers from across the province about math competitions, camps and educational resources. The CMS values its partnership with Ontario teachers, who are crucial in organizing and facilitating national programs such as the Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematical Challenge (COMC) competition, CMS math camps and the recently launched and well-received math T-shirt design contest.

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.

The CMS collaborates with universities across Canada to organize and host a series of math camps each year. Camps are designed to help students develop their mathematical knowledge in an engaging, challenging and -most importantly -fun atmosphere. In 2014, a total of 27 camps were held across the country with over 1,000 students participating.

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.

The Canadian Mathematical Society chose SeulBi Kim’s design as the winner of the first ever CMS Canada Math T-shirt Design Contest. SeulBi, a student at Fredericton High School, N.B., designed a T-shirt that featured a globe with equations and explained that, "The t-shirt design represents the idea that math is a language without regions and you can communicate using math all over the world." SeulBi’s design will be featured on over 1,000 math T-shirts distributed across Canada in 2015 to commemorate CMS math camps and competitions. Students across Canada and around the world submitted designs for the inaugural T-shirt contest, which was open for four weeks.

I’ve been in Moscow now a month, studying away from my home university, UBC, with the Math in Moscow program. Moscow is an enormous city, five times Vancouver’s size, making daily life convenient, if crowded. With the entire city forty minutes away by metro, exploration requires only a few free hours.

The 2015  Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO) will take place on Monday, March 9, for schools in North and South America, and on Tuesday, March 10, for those in the Western Pacific and in Asia. Thirty-three Canadian students have been invited by the CMS to write the exam in various locations in Canada and the U.S. Contest papers, and solutions will be made available in conjunction with the APMO organizers following the competition. Official results are expected to be made available in early-May.

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.

University of Toronto professor James Arthur was awarded the 2015 Wolf Prize in Mathematics for his work on the trace formula and his essential contributions to the theory of automorphic representations of reductive groups. Arthur has been a CMS member since 1990.

On January 28, the CMS issued a national endorsement to renew funding for the Banff International Research Station (BIRS), a premier world class centre for mathematical research. The CMS President noted to NSERC, NSF, Alberta Innovation, and CONACyT the continuing BIRS success in advancing a broad spectrum of mathematical sciences. BIRS' significant contribution to enriching the mathematics community, in Canada and abroad, was also highlighted. The endorsement of BIRS funding follows similar CMS national endorsements of funding renewals for PIMS, Fields and CRM.

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).