Fryer

Kenneth Dudley Fryer (1924-1984)

Born: St. Thomas, Ontario on June 13, 1924.

Died: Waterloo, Ontario on May 19, 1984.

Ken Fryer attended high school at St. Thomas Collegiate Institute. He then did his undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. He obtained his PhD at the University of Toronto. After teaching at RMC (Royal Military College) in Kingston, Ontario, he came to the University of Waterloo. He was a long time Associate Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics. (I am very grateful to Ken's long-time colleague Ed Anderson for providing this detail.)

Ken was a major inspirational figure in the creation of the AMC. He was the leader of the Canadian Competition, although he was also a prominent researcher, and before Ken's death Ron Dunkley probably did much of the administration before taking on the role more formally when Ken died. I was very fortunate to know Ken from his visits to Australia and having stayed in his house in Waterloo on a 1983 visit. He was a man with a very calm disposition, extremely generous in nature, and with a wonderful sense of humour. The above picture shows Ken while visiting with Ron and American Walter Mientka in 1980.From left are Professors Ken Fryer and Ron Dunkley, from the University of Waterloo, Canada, Peter O'Halloran, and Professor Walter Mientka, Director of the US competitions, based at Lincoln, Nebraska.

Ken was a Canadian Descartes medallist, and his citation may be found here. But most of all from the Australian perspective he was an inspiration to Peter O'Halloran, as his preface below in the 1984 AMC Solutions and Statistics book shows (Ken had written a Foreword for this book before he passed away and this Foreword was published on the previous page to Peter's Preface).

During April 1973, I was introduced to a Mathematics Professor at Waterloo University, Canada, a university which, with 160 faculty members and 5000 mathematics undergraduates, has one of the world's largest Mathematics Faculties.

The Professor's name was Ken Fryer. In the normalexchange of pleasantries I mentioned that I enjoyed problem solving and that I used problem solving as a technique to motivate, stimulate and challenge students. He explained that he and a number of his colleagues were involved with a school mathematics contest which also helped to motivate interest in mathematics. I displayed some interest.

The next day, on his own initiative, he brought to my office a generous set of contest materials which included copies of all past papers, solution booklets, and a comprehensive collection of organisational documents. I thanked him, put them into my file and promptly forgot about them.

Three years later, while President of the Canberra Mathematical Association, a number of teachers told me of their deep concern at the low profile mathematics had within their schools; schools which were then experimenting with school-based curriculum. For example, some schools had decided that mathematics should not be compulsory for 15-year-old students. Flexibility in Education was the catch-cry in those mid-70s. My reaction was that too much flexibility in school without some emphasis on the basic skills of "reading, writing and arithmetic" ensured no flexibility in career opportunity. The teachers asked "How can the importance of mathematics be highlighted at schools in order to counter this self-destruct attitude of mediocrity?"

The concept of a mathematics competition came to mind; the bigger the contest, the better, as it would then have more impact at the school level. I immediately went to my Canadian file and found a gold mine of information and back-up material on competitions.

Within two weeks my colleagues at the Canberra College of Advanced Education and a group of teachers organised a local mathematics contest. There were 1300 entries from 30 schools. The aims, procedures and organisational structure developed in those ten hectic weeks have substantiall remained the same, even though that local contest has now become the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC). This year's entry of 303,000 students (or if you like statistics 1 in every 4 Australian secondary students) gives testimony of a community need that the competition fulfils.

Since 1976 the links between the AMC and the Canadian Mathematics Competition have expanded, the friendships have been cemented to the mutual benefit of both organisations. While on study leave last year I asked Professor Fryer if he would write this year's Foreword to the AMC Solutions and Statistics Booklet. He agreed and gave mehis article just as I was leaving Canada last December.

A few weeks ago I received word of Professor Fryer's untimely death. I will always remember him as a teacher extraordinaire, a man with a gentle and warm sense of humour, a Christian with a deep love of his family and fellow man, and as a friend. He was the inspiration for the AMC, which he regarded as his grandchild.

I would like to dedicate this year's booklet to his memory and publicly state the Australian Mathematics Competition's acknowledgement and gratitude to the Canadian Mathematics Competition and in particular, to Professor Ken Fryer.

PETER J O'HALLORAN OAM

Executive Director

June 1984

Footnote: There was one thing which the Canadians learnt from us. Until our AMC was established their competition was named after their University. When they saw the success of our name they renamed theirs to the Canadian Mathematics Competition.