Coad

Mr Russell Coad, AMC State Director for WA, received a BH Neumann Award from Dr Peter Neumann, Fellow of the Queen's College, Oxford, Lecturer at Oxford University, and Professor-at-large at the Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Western Australia, at a function at the Parmelia Hilton Hotel, Perth, on Friday 02 September 2005. Dr Neumann is a son of Professor BH Neumann, after whom the Award is named.

Russell receives his Award from Dr Neumann.

Russell with, from left daughter Becky, son-in-law Daniel, wife Marion, father Bill, mother Betty, and daughters Leisl and Tarryn.

Citation

At the age of 16 he was selected to attend a city wide Saturday enrichment program run by Bob McCreddin at Hollywood, learning about Basic and Fortran programming and applying mathematical concepts.

Russell studied and graduated as BSc and Dip Ed from UWA and Grad Dip Sc Ed from Curtin.

During his Dip Ed he enrolled in Ed471, the pre masters unit run by Roly Mortlock with Barry Kissane as the lecturer/facilitator and Janet Hunt was a fellow student.

After graduating Norm Hoffman interviewed him for a mathematics teaching position with the WA Department of Education.

In 1977/80 he taught at Narrogin SHS where Graham Smith was the Senior Maths Teacher. During this time he taught MII and III from the start of the second year, set up a new Maths Lab at Narrogin, and introduced an enrichment evening for local district schools and trips to Perth with maths students for enrichment programs.

In 1981/82 he was posted to Hollywood SHS. His experience there included

• involvement in a project sponsored by Bob McCreddin on the use of computers for the teaching of mathematics,
• involvement in computer education,
• running an enrichment program for his Year 9 group at UWA at the end of 1982, and
• lecturing maths minor students in the Dip Ed at UWA.

From 1983 to 1989 Russell was appointed to Duncraig SHS to teach in the Gifted and Talented program with David Haimes. Here his experiences included

• involvement in an exceptional program for talented students,
• involvement in educational administration and leadership,
• developing self-paced learning, assessments and enrichment programs,
• in one year having five of the top ten students in WA in the one class including Australian IMO team member and Silver Medallist Kin Yan Chung while David had another exceptional student in Lyle Gurrin,
• setting up classes and carrying out research into the effects of single sex classes on the learning of mathematics,
• working with Hilary Yovich, a mother of one of his students, to get the Gifted and Talented program off the ground,

and during this period

• being Secretary to the Maths Joint Syllabus Committee under Mike Partis,
• attending the National Maths Summer School, organised by Larry Blakers, in 1984, where he met Peter O'Halloran, founder of the Australian Mathematics Trust, and
• As a result he instituted some new techniques to his teaching such as discovery learning.

In 1988 David Haimes headed off to Canada so Russell became the WA Director for the AMC that year and attended the IMO in Canberra (where he again worked with Peter O'Halloran).

In 1990 Russell became Principal of a K-10 independent school and chose to continue teaching by taking a year 10 maths class / maths enrichment for able year 5-7 students.

In 1992 David asked Russell to take over the State Director role which he has continued to do as part of the AMC family until the present time. In this role Russell has always been on hand locally to facilitate the running of the AMC, advising the national committee, ironing out problems coordinating with schools, validating results, etc

In this regard he particularly notes the role of teachers such as Eric Balzan, of Willeton SHS, who arranged for his students take the AMC since the first year of the AMC in 1978, culminating in that school having two medallists in 2003, the first year in which the National Awards Ceremony was held in Perth.

Since 1996 Russell has been at West Coast TAFE as full time training administrator so he has been involved in the education of 5 to 75 year-olds over a period of 29 years.

Russell's commitment to professional teaching is well epitomised by one of his former colleagues, now at Mount Newman, who was unable to attend the presentation but sent the following message in his apology:

"As a colleague of Russell's at Narrogin Senior High School and later at Hollywood Senior High School, I am most familiar with his professionalism, concern and competence in developing understanding, interest and confidence in young mathematics students. Russell's contribution towards his peers was similarly enriching and profound. Acknowledging these contributions as so significant, is usurped only by his concern for his students as people - as developing human beings - both through his direct interaction and by his impeccable modelling. We might all seek to have made a difference in a few - for Russell, there would now be so many.

"May I take this opportunity to commend Russell for his thoroughly selfless dedication and involvement in the mathematics education of young Australians . . . and us old ones too! We are all the better for his contribution."

Brian Davis, Newman Senior High School, Pilbara, WA.

In conclusion, Russell is an extremely deserving winner of the BH Neumann Award.

Peter Taylor

Friday 02 September 2005