Previous Winners
Click on a winner’s picture to read more about their achievements.
Dr Alun Owen
The IMA is delighted to announce that Dr Alun Owen of Coventry University is the recipient of the IMA John Blake University Teaching Medal 2025.
The Medal was introduced in 2020 and named in honour of the late Professor John Blake in recognition of his passionate support of teaching and learning within the mathematical sciences in higher education.
Alun has been teaching statistics in higher education since 1991. In 2023, he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for his pioneering work in the development of statistics support in higher education. Alun’s work, both across the UK and internationally, makes learning statistics more inclusive and accessible to all students. From Foundation to PhD, he has worked with students at every level of higher education, including those on specialist mathematical sciences courses and those users of statistics in a wide range of disciplines. Alun has a passion for teaching, believing that the learning of statistics should be accessible to all students, irrespective of their level of ability, subject specialism or barriers to learning that they may face. He has won several student-led teaching awards at Coventry University and at Loughborough University.
Since 2008, he has been at the forefront of developing statistics support as a field in its own right, leading the development and delivery of statistics support services through the work of sigma, a HEFCE-funded Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). Alun has worked at both Coventry and Loughborough Universities, sigma’s two lead institutions, and been instrumental in developing the statistics support services that now exist. He is also a regular presenter at the annual CETL-MSOR conference, the UK’s premier mathematical sciences higher education teaching and learning conference.
Of particular note is his development of the open learning resource statstutor. It provides over 200 free, high-quality, peer-reviewed learning resources to staff and students across the world. Over the last five years, the site has received around 500 000 visits per year from 83 countries, with 70% of visits coming from outside the UK.
Since 2016, he has led the development of The Statistics Tutor’s Pocket Book Guide to Statistics Resources, providing a comprehensive list of resources for supporting learning in statistics, as recommended by colleagues within the sector. This has been downloaded over 1500 times, and he is now leading a group from several universities across the UK to update the guide.
After the CETL funding ceased in 2016, he established a Special Interest Group (SIG) in Statistics Support under the umbrella of the sigma Network (new website coming soon), which is a national network of mathematics and statistics support professionals from across the UK and beyond. Over 100 colleagues from across the UK engage with this SIG, making it the most active of all of the sigma Network’s SIGs.
Alun has been an editor of MSOR Connections since 2014. This journal is now flourishing as an open-access, practitioner-focused, online publication, with over 4000 registered users and over 500 000 views.
Currently Alun is leading an international research project involving eight universities from the UK and Australia. The project explores higher education students’ current levels of awareness, usage and experiences of generative AI in supporting their learning, with a particular emphasis on its potential as an aid for learning statistics.
In summary, Alun has made a significant impact on statistics learning in the UK higher education sector and beyond. The development of statistics support as a field of endeavour alongside the provision of large numbers of high-quality learning resources have impacted the learning experiences and outcomes of tens of thousands of students.
Dr Alun Owen is a worthy recipient of the IMA John Blake University Teaching Medal.
Professor Chris Sangwin FIMA
The IMA is delighted to announce, Professor Chris Sangwin of the University of Edinburgh as the winner of the 2023 John Blake University Teaching Medal.
The John Blake University Teaching Medal, introduced in 2020, is awarded to an individual in recognition of their significant and sustained contribution to the teaching of mathematical sciences at university level.
Professor Sangwin is Professor of Technology Enhanced Science Education in the School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh. He previously worked in the Mathematics Education Centre of Loughborough University, the University of Birmingham and the UK Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research (MSOR) Network. He was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2006. He is known internationally for his work on Computer Aided Assessment, including the development of the mathematics e-assessment system, STACK; System for Teaching and Assessment using a Computer-algebra Kernel. STACK is now widely used in universities across the UK and internationally.
STACK saw a significant increase in use during the COVID-19 pandemic, as mathematicians urgently needed a way to support students studying remotely. STACK is currently supporting the learning of a diverse body of students over 1500 sites across six continents and has been translated into over 20 languages. It is used in universities, by NGOs in developing countries, in schools and commercially.
Chris’s work is grounded in research and scholarship. In developing STACK, Chris has thought deeply about the nature of teaching, learning and assessment in mathematics, often referring to historical teaching texts and basing his thinking firmly in the educational literature. He is the author of a number of books, including 'Computer Aided Assessment of Mathematics' and the popular science book, 'How Round is Your Circle', which illustrates and investigates many links between mathematics and engineering using physical models.
It is a testament to John Blake’s legacy that he, as the then Director of the MSOR Network, appointed Chris to the network in 2000 as a Research Fellow, with a remit to research and promote effective teaching of higher education mathematics within the UK.
Professor Sangwin is an inspiring teacher and an internationally recognised leader in the field of mathematics assessment, and in particular computer-based assessment. He has had significant influence on mathematics teaching and learning at many universities within the UK and overseas. His work has inspired and enhanced the learning of tens of thousands of students across the world.
For this reason, he is a worthy winner of the 2023 John Blake University Teaching Medal.
Dr Lara Alcock
We are delighted to announce that the Council of the IMA has awarded the first IMA John Blake University Teaching Medal to Dr Lara Alcock. This new IMA prize, which was introduced to the community in 2020, is awarded to an individual in recognition of their significant and sustained contribution to the teaching of the mathematical sciences at university-level. The following citation describes Dr Alcock's exceptional work in this field.
Dr Alcock is a Reader in Mathematics Education at Loughborough University. She was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2015 and received the Annie and John Selden Prize for Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education in 2012. She is a regular recipient of student-awarded prizes such as Most engaging lecturer, Best lecturer, Most helpful mentor and Most outstanding mathematics lecturer within her university.
Dr Alcock is an internationally-recognised mathematics education researcher, one of the world’s foremost authorities on the teaching of real analysis to undergraduates. She has particular expertise in the area of proof comprehension and self-explanation and has carried out exciting and innovative studies using eye-tracking technology to explore how experts and novices actually read proofs.
What makes Dr Alcock virtually unique as a mathematics education researcher is her ability to communicate the findings of educational research to both academic mathematicians and students. Her writing is accessible and full of practical advice about how research findings can influence the way students learn and the way lecturers teach.
She is author of How to Study for a Mathematics Degree, first published by OUP in 2012. American and German versions of this practical and inspirational book have since been produced. Many UK and international universities recommend that incoming undergraduates read this book before commencing their studies, with some even giving a copy of the book to each of their new undergraduates.
Academic mathematicians are often suspicious of mathematics education researchers, but Dr Alcock’s down to earth practical writing and speaking has overcome this barrier. Her 2018 article Tilting the classroom in the Newsletter of the London Mathematical Society recognised the difficulties involved in full-scale “flipping the classroom” so offered practical, research-informed suggestions of ways to introduce more active learning activities within the lecture theatre (hence tilting rather than flipping). She has been invited to speak on this theme at many universities throughout the country and prompted change in practice amongst many colleagues.
Professor John Blake was an excellent mathematician who was passionate about high quality mathematics teaching in higher education. Dr Lara Alcock is an excellent mathematics educationalist who shares the same passion and who has both directly and indirectly improved the learning of thousands of students in her own university, throughout the country and throughout the world. The IMA is convinced that Professor Blake would have wanted due recognition to be given to Dr Alcock’s work and that he would be delighted that Dr Lara Alcock is the recipient of the inaugural John Blake University Teaching Medal.
This list is updated every two years following the new award announcement.