WINNIPEG, MB – UWinnipeg Visiting Scholar, Dr. Bill Sands, is the recipient of the prestigious Canadian Mathematical Society’s 2008 Graham Wright Award for Distinguished Service.
Canada’s ‘Mathletes’
Sands has helped guide and nurture the CMS’s International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) program, the world championship of high school mathematics competitions. The CMS sponsors a team of students to travel abroad to the IMO representing Canada to compete with teams from around the world.
Sands chaired the Society’s IMO Committee from 1998 to 2008. During this time, he trained virtually all of Canada’s ‘Mathletes’. Sands consistently ensured that Team Canada received outstanding preparation and training for this mathematical Olympiad.
Visiting Scholar Native of Winnipeg
Sands is a native of Winnipeg. He is a visiting scholar in UWinnipeg’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics on sabbatical leave from University of Calgary. Sands is known as for his work mentoring young people interested in mathematical problem solving, and remains an active researcher in combinatorics, (a major research focus of at UWinnipeg’s department of Math & Statistics). During his sabbatical he is trying to solve a number of open theoretical research problems.
Graham Wright Award for Distinguished Service
The CMS created a Distinguished Service Award in 1995 to recognize individuals who have made sustained and significant contributions to the Canadian mathematical community, and in particular, to the CMS. In 2008, the award was renamed the Graham Wright Award for Distinguished Service in honour of Dr. Graham Wright of the University of Ottawa, who has served with distinction as the Society’s Executive Director and Secretary for over 30 years.
The 2008 Graham Wright Award for Distinguished Service was awarded to Dr. Bill Sands at the CMS Winter Meeting in Ottawa, on December 6, 2008.
