MESSAGE FROM THE
DIRECTOR
We entered 2019 with the prospect of new
exciting programs and events, but overshadowed
by the sad news of the passing, on January 18, of
our friend, colleague, and recent Fields Institute
Director, Walter L. Craig. We will remember
Walter for his unflagging support of the Fields
Institute, his good humour, and his kindness.
The Fields Institute looks back on a busy fall
2018, highlighted by the major thematic program
on Teichmüller Theory and its Connections to
Geometry, Topology and Dynamics (July-December
2018), and the 2018 Fields Medal Symposium in
honour of Maryam Mirzakhani. Later this year
we will host the 2019 Fields Medal Symposium
to celebrate the profound contributions of Artur
Avila to chaos theory and dynamical systems.
As we move through 2019, an ambitious
and ground-breaking Thematic Program is
underway here at the Institute: The Fields CQAM
Interdisciplinary Thematic Program is bringing
together people from industry and academic
fields to work on problems across a wide range
of disciplines, including history, art conservation,
economics, health research, pharmaceutical
manufacturing, machine learning, energy
and mining, and financial analytics. The
Program is well aligned with the Fields CQAM
vision of making "Ontario the international
leader in the development and deployment
of advanced mathematical methodologies
for the emerging knowledge economy".
Another notable recent event was the Symposium
on 50 Years of Complexity Theory: A Celebration
of the Work of Stephen Cook (May 6-9, 2019).
This four-day symposium featured an outstanding
program of leading computer scientists, including
many Turing Award and Nevanlinna Prize winners,
centered around foundational research pioneered
by Professor Stephen Cook (University of Toronto)
on NP-Completeness and complexity theory.
We extend our congratulations to Taboka
Prince Chalebgwa, 2019 recipient of the Fields-
AIMS-Perimeter Africa Postdoctoral Fellowship.
We look forward to welcoming him to the
Institute in July 2019 to begin his fellowship.
My term as Director at Fields will end on June 30. I
would like to express my warm thanks and personal
appreciation to Arvind Gupta (Board Chair) and
Deputy Directors Matheus Grasselli and Huaxiong
Huang, who devoted so much of their talents
and energy to Fields for the benefit of the whole
community. In addition, I would like to thank all
the staff at Fields over these past four years. Their
hard work, dedication and flexibility have been
essential in supporting the growing range and
intensity of scientific activities at the Institute.
The Fields Institute recently announced the
appointment of Professor Kumar Murty
(University of Toronto) as Fields Institute Director,
starting July 1, 2019. Professor Murty’s scientific
accomplishments, track record of international
collaborations and extensive administrative
experience will all be great assets for the Fields
Institute in the coming years. We are also very
grateful to Professor Tom Salisbury (York University),
who has agreed to help our transition as Interim
Deputy Director from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
Ian Hambleton
Director
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