Great Scot May 2020 Great Scot 159_MAY 2020_ONLINE_V3 | Page 33

CHRONOLOGY OF SOME SCOTCH MATHEMATICIANS
of Integer Sequences, widely regarded
as one of the most useful resources for
mathematicians ever created. Lately, he has
been creating superb expository videos on
his work. They are accessible by typing ‘neil
sloane numberphile’ into YouTube.
Professor Edgar Roderick (Ed) Smith
(SC 1955-61)
Professor Smith was Co-Dux of Scotch
in 1961, and subsequently studied at the
University of Melbourne before completing
a PhD at Imperial College, London. He
returned to Australia and held numerous
positions of leadership, including Head of
Mathematics at Latrobe University.
Professor Timothy Carlisle Brown
(SC 1959-70)
Professor Brown studied at Monash
University before completing a PhD at
the University of Cambridge. He has held
numerous academic posts in Australia,
including Head of Mathematics at the
University of Melbourne. In 2019 he was
appointed as the Director of the Australian
Mathematical Sciences Institute.
Professor Robert Andrzej Bartnik
(SC 1968-73)
Professor Bartnik studied at the
University of Melbourne before completing
a PhD at Princeton. He returned to
Australia and held professorships at various
universities, most recently at Monash
University.
Dr Daniel Virgil Mathews (SC 1992-97)
Dr Mathews was Co-Dux of Scotch
in 1997 and achieved bronze and silver
medals at the 1996 and 1997 International
Mathematical Olympiads, respectively.
He studied at the University of Melbourne
before completing a PhD at Stanford
University. Currently he is a Senior Lecturer
in the School of Mathematics at Monash
University.
Dr Nicholas James Sheridan
(SC 1997-2002)
Dr Sheridan was Dux of Scotch in 2002
and achieved a silver medal at the 2002
International Mathematical Olympiad. He
studied at the University of Melbourne
before completing a PhD at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Currently he holds
an academic post at the University of
Edinburgh.
The diagram illustrates the above
chronology, as well as incorporating the
Heads of Department at Scotch. For those
who are interested in mapping these
historical lines, the Mathematics Genealogy
Project
https://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/
traces the academic lineage of any
mathematician, allowing you to map their
heritage back to Gauss and Newton and
beyond.
Scotch continues to take pride
in attracting and training students of
exceptional promise in mathematics. For
example, to equip and extend our strongest
Year 12 students, Monash University’s
Extension Mathematics course has been
taught at Scotch for several years, and for
the last three years the dux of the state has
come from Scotch.
DR GARETH AINSWORTH – HEAD OF
MATHEMATICS
1 E R Love, ‘Thomas MacFarland Cherry’,
Journal of the Australian Mathematical
Society, 1969.
2 Graeme Cohen, ‘The appointment of
the first four professors of mathematics
in the University of Melbourne’, Gazette
of the Australian Mathematical Society,
2006.
3 E R Love, ibid.
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
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