The Canadian Mathematical Society

Founded in 1945


The Canadian Mathematical Society was founded in June 1945 as the Canadian Mathematical Congress. The founding members recorded that the aim of:-
... this congress [would] be the beginning of important mathematical development in Canada.
The first president of the Society was Samuel Beatty who served in this role from 1945 to 1949. The name of the Society led to a certain amount of confusion with that of the International Mathematical Congress held every four years. However, once a society adopts a name many in that society will be reluctant to change it, and this is exactly what happened with the Canadian Mathematical Congress which discussed a name change over many years. Eventually it was registered under the name Canadian Mathematical Society in 1979. It lists its presents aims as follows:

Statement of Purpose
(i) To unify and support Canadian mathematicians through effective communication, broad membership, sponsorship of diverse activities, and partnerships with like professional societies.

(ii) To support mathematics research through the communication of current research to both the specialist and non-specialist, public recognition of research accomplishments and collaboration with the research institutes, granting agencies and the users of mathematics.

(iii) To support mathematics education through joint projects with mathematics educators at all levels, promotion of educational advancements, and partnerships with provincial ministries of education and organizations supporting mathematics education.

(iv) To champion mathematics through initiatives that explain, promote and increase the general understanding of mathematics, provide extracurricular opportunities for students, and encourage partnerships with corporate, government and not-for-profit agencies.
The Canadian Journal of Mathematics and the Canadian Mathematical Bulletin are the two research level journals published by the Society. The Canadian Journal of Mathematics began publication in 1949 and publishes six parts per year. The first volume contains papers by, among others, Harold Davenport, George Pólya, Herbert Turnbull, Hermann Weyl, Cyrus Colton MacDuffee, Kurt Mahler, Karl Menger, Irving Kaplansky, Marston Morse, Edward Titchmarsh, Garrett Birkhoff, Albert Einstein, Leopold Infeld, John Lighton Synge, Alexander Weinstein, Sarvadaman Chowla, Jack Todd, Olga Taussky-Todd, Nathan Mendelsohn, Richard Rado, and Roberto Frucht. The Canadian Mathematical Bulletin began publication in 1958 and publishes four parts per year. The first volume contains papers by, among others, Paul Erdős, Gilbert de Beauregard Robinson, Hans Zassenhaus, Abraham Robinson, Leo Moser, William Moser, and Hans Schwerdtfeger. The G de B Robinson Award was inaugurated in 1994-95 to recognise excellent papers published in the Canadian Journal of Mathematics and the Canadian Mathematical Bulletin. It was first awarded in 1996 and is often awarded to several people. For example, in 2014 five people won the G de B Robinson Award.

The Society also publishes ten issues per year of Crux Mathematicorum which contains problem-solving challenges and techniques suitable for training in secondary school (high school) problem solving competitions such as the national and international Olympiad competitions. This journal was first published in March 1975 under the name EUREKA and only after 32 issues, in March 1978 the name was changed to Crux Mathematicorum. The first part states:-
Original problems are particularly sought. But not many of us can create six original problems every morning before breakfast. So please submit any interesting problem you come across, especially those from books that are not easily accessible. Many problems in current textbooks have been floating around for a long time anyway, and they are often included without acknowledgement of any sort. However, if you know who originated the problem you submit, it would be laudable to give credit where credit is known to be due.
The Society also publishes a newsletter, the Canadian Mathematical Society Notes, with currently six issues per year, but prior to 2010, it was eight issues per year. The Notes began publication in 1969. It contains:-
... news relevant to the Canadian mathematical community, including notice on conferences, columns on research and education, book reviews, award announcements, and employment advertisements for mathematicians.

Here is a list of presidents of the Society:
1945 - 1949 Samuel Beatty
1949 - 1953 A Pouliot
1953 - 1957 G de B Robinson
1957 - 1961 R L Jeffery
1961 - 1963 R James
1963 - 1965 M Wyman
1965 - 1967 H S M Coxeter
1967 - 1969 M L'Abbé
1969 - 1971 N S Mendelsohn
1971 - 1973 G F D Duff
1973 - 1975 A J Coleman
1975 - 1977 W O J Moser
1977 - 1979 R Vaillancourt
1979 - 1981 P Lancaster
1981 - 1983 P G Rooney
1983 - 1985 R A Piccinini
1985 - 1987 D Borwein
1987 - 1989 C Herz
1989 - 1991 F V Atkinson
1991 - 1992 S D Riemenschneider
1992 - 1994 M Delfour
1994 - 1996 P Fillmore
1996 - 1998 K Heinrich
1998 - 2000 R Kane
2000 - 2002 J Borwein
2002 - 2004 C Rousseau
2004 - 2006 H E A Campbell
2006 - 2008 T Salisbury
2008 - 2010 A Lau
2010 - 2012 J Hurtubise
2012 - 2014 K Taylor
2014 - 2016 L Bronsard
2016 - 2018 M Bennett

Visit the society website.

References (show)

  1. P Fillmore (ed.), Canadian Mathematical Society, 1945-1995 1: Mathematics in Canada (Ottawa, ON, 1995).
  2. V Dlab, G Duff and J Fournier, Canadian Mathematical Society, 1945-1995 2: Selecta. Canadian Journal of Mathematics. Canadian Mathematical Bulletin (Ottawa, ON, 1996).
  3. Canadian Mathematical Society - record of service, in P Fillmore (ed.), Canadian Mathematical Society, 1945-1995 1: Mathematics in Canada (Ottawa, ON, 1995), 372-394.
  4. G F D Duff, The second generation : a history of the Canadian Mathematical Society 1966-1995, in P Fillmore (ed.), Canadian Mathematical Society, 1945-1995 1: Mathematics in Canada (Ottawa, ON, 1995), 129-189.
  5. Presidents of the Canadian Mathematical Society, in P Fillmore (ed.), Canadian Mathematical Society, 1945-1995 1: Mathematics in Canada (Ottawa, ON, 1995), 328-371.

Last Updated February 2018