Message from the Director
“We’ve showcased the diversity of
programming that Fields supports
and the beauty and breadth of
mathematics research”.
The Fields Institute is twenty-five years old and over
those years it has seen ten different Directors and nine
different Deputy Directors; it has named 117 Fields
Fellows; it has put on countless thematic programs,
focus programs, workshops, seminars, and summer
schools. No one person could possibly remember all
the details. That’s why we’ve collected stories from 32
different people that have seen the Institute grow and
develop from before its inception to the present, and put
them together into a twenty-fifth anniversary book. We
hope you enjoy reading excerpts from the book in this
issue of Fields Notes.
This twenty-fifth anniversary issue of Fields Notes also
celebrates other milestones, including the 10th Annual
Keyfitz Lecture in Mathematics and the Social Sciences,
and the 10th anniversary of Sigma Analysis and
Management’s “graduation” from our start-up program.
Additionally, we’ve showcased the diversity of
programming that Fields supports and the beauty and
breadth of mathematics research. Read our feature
“Patterns in Art and Mathematics” to see four different
perspectives on the connections between mathematics
and art from the Waterloo Bridges Lecture Series. Explore
the life and mathematical philosophy of Jean-Marie De
Koninck, winner of the 2016 Margaret Sinclair Memorial
Award for excellence in mathematics education, in our
story “The Human Part of the Equation”. Search the
issue for “25 Facts about Fields” – you might learn some
things you didn’t know about the Institute.
Finally, save the date for the 2017 Fields Medal
Symposium featuring the work of Martin Hairer (October
16-19). This year the event will be held at MaRS and
with a public lecture, a student night, and an exciting
scientific program, there will be something for everyone.
I am proud to have seen the Fields Institute grow and
develop over the two years that I’ve spent as Director,
and I hope you’ll follow along to see it thrive for many
more.
Ian Hambleton
Director
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