The Fields Institute Turns Twenty-Five 170725 Final book with covers | Page 70

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Alison Conway
working opportunities come to fruition in the seminar and
lecture rooms where new ideas and new directions in research
are presented.
Looking back over the past 22 years that the Fields
Institute has been in its permanent location provides a
moment to consider how well the building has met its purpose
as a working research institute and an environment conducive
to mathematical activity. Over the years Fields has hosted
thousands of conferences, workshops, seminars, and lectures
that range from presentations by Fields Medallists to those
by young undergraduates in the Summer Research Program.
Fellowships have brought new Canadian and International
Postdoctoral Fellows to the Institute; assisted researchers,
particularly women, who have been on leave from their
research; and encouraged partnerships with other institutes
in the Fields-Perimeter Africa Fellowship.
The Institute has more than fulfilled its purpose in terms
of mathematical activity and research—yet to me this is not
the complete measure of the building. The measure of the
success of the Fields Institute as a building design lies also in
its quiet moments. During the 15 years I had the pleasure of
working at Fields, there was not a week that passed when I did
not see researchers showing a friend or family member around
the building, describing where they worked and spent their
days. As they toured the building the pride in their voices
when speaking about Fields brought home to me how much
the building had succeeded in its purpose. The Fields Institute
is a world of its own, a welcoming place, a building shaped by
mathematicians and in turn shaping them.