The IMA celebrates that, for the first time, among the five Learned Mathematics Societies who comprise the Council for the Mathematical Sciences (CMS) there are three with female presidents serving at the same time. CMS consists of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the London Mathematical Society (LMS), The Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Edinburgh Mathematical Society (EMS) and the Operational Research Society (ORS). This is a major step for mathematics that we all applaud. The presidents’ biographies are testimony to their considerable achievements and how, in their different ways, they serve as positive role models for our community. I am only sorry I am no longer President of the IMA at the same time so I could join them in the photograph.
Professor Caroline Series FRS FIMA
President of the London Mathematical Society
Caroline was elected as the London Mathematical Society’s 80th President from November 2017. The LMS, which represents academic mathematicians across the UK, has a rich tradition as one of the oldest mathematical societies in the world, having celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2015. Caroline declares she is ‘deeply honoured to have been selected for this role’. She is the third female President of LMS, following Dame Mary Cartwright (1961-1963) and Dame Frances Kirwan (2003-2005). The LMS also has a newly elected female Vice-President, Dr Cathy Hobbs. Caroline is a pure mathematician working on dynamical systems and hyperbolic geometry. Her first degree was from Oxford and her PhD from Harvard. She retired in 2015 after 36 years at the University of Warwick.
Ruth Kaufman OBE FIMA FORS
President of the Operational Research Society
The OR Society is the world’s oldest-established learned society catering to the Operational Research (OR) profession. Ruth is the third female President of The OR Society, following Valerie Belton (2004-2005) and Sue Merchant (2008-2009). The ORS membership is split roughly 50:50 between academics and practitioners. Ruth comes from the practitioner side. After a first degree in maths with social sciences at the University of Sussex, Ruth went straight into employment, and spent the next 35 years in public sector OR, as well as general management, strategy and change management.
Ruth says that she has thoroughly enjoyed her two-year term as President, going on to remark that: ‘these are times of enormous opportunity for all STEM professionals, which has meant enormous opportunity for the relevant Society to make a difference, and it is a privilege and a delight to be in the lead at such a time’.
Professor Ineke De Moortel FRSE
President of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society
In October 2017, Ineke started her 2-year term as the 123rd President of the EMS. She is the third female EMS president, following Elizabeth McHarg (1965) and Penny Davies (2009). The Edinburgh Mathematical Society (EMS) was founded in 1883 and is the learned society for the Mathematical Sciences in Scotland. Ineke is an applied mathematician at the University of St Andrews, working on modelling of the dynamical (MHD) processes occurring in the Sun’s atmosphere. She obtained her first degree at KU Leuven (Belgium) and came to Scotland in 1997 to study for her PhD.
Professor Dame Celia Hoyles DBE CMath CMathTeach FIMA
Past President of the IMA
Reproduced from Mathematics Today, December 2017
Download the article, Female Presidents for Three Maths Societies (pdf)
