50 years of the IMA and the Department of Mathematics & Statistics Nigel Mottram Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
50 years of the IMA and the Department of Mathematics & Statistics
Nigel Mottram Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
The IMA Origins of the Institute • Spring of 1959: Prof. M. J. Lighthill organised the first
meeting of the British Theoretical Mechanics Colloquium at Manchester
• Enthusiastic response so held annually after that
• 1962: at the Colloquium in Bristol, Lighthill proposed a professional institute for applied mathematicians
• 1963: Called a meeting of interested people at the Colloquium in Liverpool
• 300 people attended and (almost) unanimously endorsed his views
• An ad hoc committee was formed to consider the idea • Prof G. J. Kynch • Prof D. C. Pack • Prof R. S. Scorer • Prof K. Stewartson
The IMA
• May 1959: A committee of the Heads of departments, industry and government mathematicians met to consider a similar proposal
• Chairman: Mr. A. Geary (Northampton College of Advanced Technology)
• Views were sought and there were positive and negative responses. • Some worried it might be just another mathematical organisation • Some worried what the pure mathematicians would think
• 1961: Geary Committee met
• the London Mathematical Society (LMS), • the Mathematical Association (MA), • the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), • the British Computer Society (BCS), • the Operational Research Society (ORS)
• Concluded that the aims of the proposed Institute would not lead to any
rivalry with the other organisations.
The IMA
• Lots of discussion about coordination which led to the formation of the Joint Mathematical Council (JMC)
• Three things now happened. • Sir William Hodge obtained £2000 a year for three years to support the
formation of an Institute of Mathematics
• The colloquium at Liverpool led Lighthill to take action
• A meeting of the Conference of University Professors of Mathematics heard about both initiatives
• On 23 May 1963 everyone met and it was confirmed the name “Institute of Mathematics and its Applications”, a joint committee was formed
• Five meetings later, on 24 March 1964, a formal application was made to the Board of Trade for the registration of the Institute as a company
• Certificate of registration, dated 23 April 1964, was then produced.
The Department • 1796 Anderson's Institution formed
• Professor of Mathematics: Robert Wallace (professor 1825-1828)
• 1828 Anderson's University • 1887 Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College • 1912 Royal Technical College
• Department of Mathematics was a small service department with just 6
academic staff.
• Prof. Donald Pack joins in 1953
• Creates the Honours Associateship in Applied Mathematics, designed to produce graduates to work in industry
• 1956 Royal College of Science and Technology
• 1964 Merger with Scottish College of Commerce
• 1964 University of Strathclyde formed
Prof. Donald Pack
• 1938 New College, Oxford with a Major Scholarship in Mathematics
• Completed his degree before entering war service • short spell with the Ordnance Board in Cambridge • then Armament Research and Development Establishment at Fort
Halstead • worked on problems involving armaments and explosives.
Prof. Donald Pack
Sent to Germany in 1945 as an Acting Captain • Used the wind tunnels and German staff to do research • There was an interferometer but no filters (the Russians had taken them all)
Prof. Donald Pack
Sent to Germany in 1945 as an Acting Captain • Used the wind tunnels and German staff to do research • There was an interferometer but no filters (the Russians had taken them all)
Prof. Donald Pack
Sent to Germany in 1945 as an Acting Captain • Used the wind tunnels and German staff to do research • There was an interferometer but no filters (the Russians had taken them all) • Using normal air to see interference patterns was not easy…
Prof. Donald Pack
Sent to Germany in 1945 as an Acting Captain • Used the wind tunnels and German staff to do research • There was an interferometer but no filters (the Russians had taken them all) • Using normal air to see interference patterns was not easy…
Prof. Donald Pack
Sent to Germany in 1945 as an Acting Captain • Used the wind tunnels and German staff to do research • There was an interferometer but no filters (the Russians had taken them all) • Using normal air to see interference patterns was not easy…
Prof. Donald Pack
• 1946 Lectureship in Queen’s College, Dundee (part of University of St Andrews)
• no suitable person to supervise a PhD • waited until he had enough material to submit for a DSc, which he
gained in 1952.
• 1952 Lectureship in the University of Manchester • Vice-Chancellor told him he was being paid too much for his age
• 1953 Applied for Chair of Mathematics in the Royal Technical College
Prof. Donald Pack
• 1953 Chair of Mathematics in the Royal Technical College
• 1954 Honours Associateship in Applied Mathematics, designed to produce graduates to work in industry
• included a major project (in industry) at the end of the final year • counted as two papers in the final assessment
• There were only three students in the first year - two of them married
Prof. Donald Pack
• Since 1953…
• Supervised numerous PhDs, over 50 papers
• British Theoretical Mechanics Colloquium came to Strathclyde in 1967
• By 1968 the Royal Society had declared Strathclyde as one of the 8 major centres for fluid dynamics research in the UK
• Government report into Truancy
• Travelled to • Germany many times: delivering a set of 12 lectures in German • Japan to stand in for Lighthill to give the welcome address • Poland, USA, Italy…
• Continued as an MOD consultant until the age of 81
• awarded a Visiting Fellowship in 1991 (possibly the only one that exists)