The Fields Institute Turns Twenty-Five 170725 Final book with covers | Page 80

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Don Dawson
It came as quite a surprise to me when I was approached
by Peter Nicholson to consider becoming the Director. When
I arrived in mid-1996, the building had been in operation
for only a few months. My four years as Director were
challenging and very rewarding. My most vivid memories are
of the excitement and energy as each group of mathematicians
arrived to participate in the thematic programs.
The
diversity and range of intellectual activity was amazing. The
programs included algebraic model theory; singularity theory
and geometry; micro-local methods in geometric analysis
and mathematical physics; complexity theory; probability
theory and its applications; graph theory; and combinatorial
optimization and causal interpretation and identification of
conditional independence structures.
There were too many high points to elaborate on but I
will mention a few. One particularly memorable event was
The Legacy of John Charles Fields Symposium for World
Mathematical Year 2000 which included Fields Medallists
Michael Atiyah, Alan Baker, Richard Borcherds, Alain
Connes, Timothy Gowers, Vaughan Jones, Maxim Kontsevich,
John Milnor, and Stephan Smale. Another lasting memory are
the many Saturday meetings of the Mathematical Education
Forum where mathematical educators from various levels from
across Ontario met to discuss with passion the challenges and
directions of mathematics education. The monthly Financial
Mathematics Seminar Series featured many of the leading
international experts in mathematical finance and brought
together many members of the financial institutions in the
Toronto region.
More generally, during the 1990s, recognizing the
ubiquitous role of the mathematical sciences throughout
industry, finance, technology, and the health sciences,
the mathematical community reached out to these related
communities. In particular, this led to the initiative to develop