The Fields Institute Turns Twenty-Five 170725 Final book with covers | Page 45

CHAPTER 5
Memories of a Key Meeting
James Arthur
“Rob Prichard. . . spoke with passion ... of the fundamental
importance of mathematics to the modern world.”
Lacking a diary, I looked over my CV for guidance in recalling
the earliest days of the Fields Institute. I was surprised to see a
number of formal duties and ties to the Institute over the years
that had escaped my memory. I hope that this admission does
not lead a reader to doubt the accuracy of my recollections
below!
In any case, I believe it was around 1990 that Bill Shadwick
and others began to promote the idea of a mathematical
research institute in Ontario. At that time, Canada had
one such institute, the Centre de Recherches Mathématiques
(CRM), at the Université de Montréal. It has been very
successful and, even in 1990, had attained a widespread
reputation for its many important conferences, workshops, and
longer periods of specialized concentration, as well as for its
visits from leading international mathematicians.