Guttmann

Tony Guttmann receives his BH Neumann Award from Professor McPhee, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, at a function at University House, University of Melbourne, on 13 August 2004.

Tony with Peter Taylor, Dorothea Neumann and Mrs Guttmann at the event.

Citation

Professor Tony Guttmann is a very worthy winner for contributions to mathematics enrichment outside the Trust. Tony is a very rare individual. He is an elite research mathematican who has also led by example with widescale interaction with students, not just the students at his University, but also with the community around him.

As a research mathematician he has reached the top. After an undergraduate career at this University re received a PhD from the University of New South Wales in 1969. He received a Senior Fulbright Fellowship in 1978. He was a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Newcastle from 1984 and at this University from 1988. He won the Academy's Hannan Medal in 1999. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Science in 2002.

He now directs an ARC Centre for Excellence, the Centre for the Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems based at this University.

He has served his profession well. He is President of the Australian Mathematical Society and has been since 2002. He was one of the leading figures in the establishment of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute and was Interim Director in 2002.

Tony has written over 200 refereed papers and is member of Ediorial Board and Referee for numerous journals.

The real reason for winning this award, however is for Tony's work with students. He is renowned for the influence he has had on his own students, both postgraduate and undergraduate. However Tony has also shown an interest in school education. He is a member of the VCE mathematics reference group for the State of Victoria.

Above all though he has been active in providing challenge for students throughout the state. Since the departure of Derek Holton, Allen Russell and John Rickard several years ago from this University, Tony has been the Organiser of the University of Melbourne Schools Mathematics Competition. This is the largest of all the state based competitions, attracting several thousand entries annually, and is highly regarded as one of the principal identifiers of talent in this state. Needless to say this is a very demanding task, coordinating a number of volunteers, composing the problems, marking the solutions and over-seeing various other logistical tasks.

But it typifies Tony's commitment to his profession, putting in very much of his own time and effort, way beyond his call of duty.

Peter Taylor

Friday 13 August 2004