The COVID-19 pandemic continued to influence IMA activity in 2021, with staff working mainly from home and nearly all activities taking place online. As in 2020, services were maintained and operations ran smoothly; the Trustees remain very appreciative of the staff’s hard work and flexibility.
A significant event this year for the IMA was David Youdan’s retirement from the role of Executive Director (ED) in July, a position he had held for 19 years. Alan Peacock (Assistant Director) was appointed as Interim Executive Director until the end of the year while the Trustees worked on recruiting a new ED. We are very pleased to welcome Rosalind Azouzi who took up the position of ED on 4 January 2022.
The IMA ran the Department for Education Mathematics Teacher Training Scholarships scheme for a ninth successful year, recommending 260 outstanding applicants for scholarship funds.
Following the rapid expansion into virtual conferences and events in 2020, the Conference Team focussed on embedding and assessing the effectiveness of their online delivery, with the primary aims of meeting the needs of delegates and improving accessibility. The team also trialled a hybrid event in September at the Isaac Newton Institute in Cambridge.
Our Membership numbers have remained stable: we welcomed over 800 new members during the year and awarded over 100 Graduate Prize Memberships.
Once again, we played the leading role with the CMS in the inclusion of mathematics within STEM for Britain at Parliament. The final of the 2021 competition took place online on Monday 8 March, during British Science Week. This year we were able to invite the winners to an in-person Awards Ceremony and Reception, which took place on 6 December at Portcullis House, Houses of Parliament.
In November, for the first time in two years, Council had an in-person meeting at the Royal Society, which was followed by dinner at the Cavendish Hotel. There, we took the opportunity to present a prize to the winner of the inaugural IMA Hedy Lamarr Prize for Knowledge Exchange in Mathematics and its Applications, and to present IMA’s former longstanding Honorary Treasurer, Neil Challis, with his Honorary Fellowship Award. This was Nira Chamberlain’s last meeting as President of the IMA, and he reflected on his presidency during which he established the hugely successful Black Heroes of Mathematics annual conference; and became the first IMA President to deliver his Presidential Address online.
We were delighted that David Youdan was able to attend the dinner, and he shared some memories and notable events of his 19 years at the helm of IMA. In recognition of David’s outstanding service, Council has established the David Youdan Medal, for services to the IMA.
We hope that you enjoy reading about many more of our activities in 2021 in the rest of this Annual Report to Members 2021 (pdf).
Notice of the Fifty-eighth IMA Annual General Meeting: 29 June 2022
This year, we are delighted to be able to offer members the option of attending the AGM in person or virtually.
The fifty-eighth Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications will be held on Wednesday 29 June 2022 at 5.00 p.m. at UCL Training Centre, 188 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7PH, and will also be available as an online meeting via Zoom.
Places at the AGM (both in person and virtually) are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. IMA members who wish to register for attendance at the AGM should contact Gemma Reeves ([email protected]) who will provide the required details, subject to availability of places. All registrations for attendance should be made by 16:00 on 28 June.
Further details are available in the AGM Notice 2022 (pdf) which has also been distributed with the June issue of Mathematics Today.
