School of Mathematics and Statistics: Prizes and Scholarships 2015–2016
The School's annual Prizes and Scholarships presentation ceremony was held in the Forum Restaurant, in the Darlington Centre, on the evening of May 3rd. The presentations were made by Professor Tyrone Carlin (Deputy Vice Chancellor (Registrar)), and Professor Trevor Hambley (Dean of the Faculty of Science).
The guest speakers were Dr Justin Koonin and Dr Hugh Miller.
Justin Koonin completed both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the School of Mathematics. His Ph.D. in algebra was supervised by Professors Gus Lehrer and Anthony Henderson, and he subsequently held a postdoctoral fellowship, working with Gus Lehrer, before deciding to enter the world of industry. After working in the modelling and predictive analytics team at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Justin moved to his current role with the investment firm Allan Gray. Alongside this, Justin has worked extensively in human rights advocacy on issues including anti-discrimination law reform, marriage equality, and in his current role as president of the AIDS Council of New South Wales.
Hugh Miller graduated from the University of Sydney in 2005 with honours in pure mathematics. He joined Taylor Fry, where he works as a consulting actuary and statistician. In 2009 he completed a PhD in statistics at the University of Melbourne, studying methods for handling modern datasets with thousands of variables. In recent years he has worked extensively in the government sector, where he has been building models to help governments make better use of their data to develop policy.
Prizes
The Joye Prize
Established in 2002 by donation from Mr Ian Edward Joye LLB and Mr Christopher Ronald Edward Joye BCom, the Joye Prize is awarded annually to the most outstanding student completing fourth year Honours in Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics or Mathematical Statistics (provided the work is of sufficient merit).
Joint recipients: Joshua Ciappara and John Wormell.
The David Jackson Prize
Awarded in memory of the late Dr David GA Jackson, who studied and taught in the School of Mathematics and Statistics from 1989 to 1998. In remembrance of David's particular talents the prize is awarded to an undergraduate for creativity and originality in Pure Mathematics.
Joint recipients: Suntharan Arunasalam, Joshua Ciappara and Diana Nguyen.
Prizes for Honours Students
The KE Bullen Memorial Prize was established in 1989 by public subscription in memory of Professor K E Bullen who was Professor of Applied Mathematics from 1946 to 1971. Awarded for proficiency in Applied Mathematics Honours.
Joint recipients: Nathan Duignan and John Wormell.
The MJ and M Ashby Prize was established in 1994 through a donation from Mrs M Ashby. Awarded for the best honours essay in the School of Mathematics and Statistics submitted by a student in the Faculty of Science.
Recipient: John Wormell.
The Chris Cannon Prize was established in memory of Chris Cannon, a former staff member in Applied Mathematics. It is awarded for the best Applied Mathematics Honours seminar presentation.
Recipient: Adrianne Jenner.
The Rolf Adams Prizes were established in 2011, following a bequest by Mrs Joan Adams. The prizes are in memory of her grandson, Rolf Adams, who graduated with first class honours and the University medal in Pure Mathematics in 1986. Rolf went on to graduate studies at University of California, Berkeley and then returned to work in image analysis at CSIRO. He died tragically at the age of 26.
The Rolf Adams Prize no. 1 is awarded for the best Pure Mathematics Honours seminar presentation.
Recipient: Joshua Ciappara.
The Veronica Thomas Prize was established in 1993 by Alice and Richard Thomas in memory of their daughter Veronica, who graduated with first class honours in Mathematical Statistics. Veronica shared the Tim Brown prize for Mathematical Statistics 2, the Statistical Society of Australia Prize and the Australian Federation of University Women (NSW) Prize.
The Veronica Thomas Prize is awarded for the best Statistics Honours seminar presentation.
Recipient: Sean Carnaffan.
The Australian Federation of Graduate Women (NSW) Prize in Mathematics is awarded to the most distinguished woman candidate graduating with first class honours in the School.
Joint recipients: Adrianne Jenner and Emma Johnstone.
The Barker Scholarship fund was established in 1853 by a gift of £1000 by Thomas Barker, for the encouragement of mathematical science. It funds the Barker Scholarships (see below) and the Barker Prize.
The Barker Prize (established in 1935) is awarded for proficiency in Honours Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics or Mathematical Statistics.
Recipient: Benjamin Szczesny.
Prizes for Senior Students
The Norbert Quirk prize was founded in 1886 by a gift from the subscribers to a memorial for the Reverend John Aloysius Norbert Quirk, Principal of Lyndhurst College, Glebe. Three separate prizes are now awarded.
The Norbert Quirk Prize number 3 is awarded for the best answer by a senior student to a question in the SUMS problem competition.
Recipient: Joseph Baine.
The Applied Probability Trust Prize was established in 2001 by a donation from the Applied Probability Trust. It is awarded to the Senior student in the advanced Stochastic Processes unit of study who demonstrates the greatest proficiency.
Joint recipients: Craig Coorey and Sheng Xu.
The Tim Brown prizes were established in 1966 by a gift from Mr and Mrs T H Brown to found a prize in memory of their son, T. A. I. Brown. The fund was later increased by further gifts from the family. Tim gained first class honours in 1963 and began a PhD in the Department of Mathematical Statistics. A paper with Professor H O Lancaster was published posthumously in 1965.
The Tim Brown Prize number 2 is awarded for proficiency in Senior Statistics.
Recipients: Victor Khou.
Prizes for Intermediate Students
The John Spark Memorial Prize was established in 2012 by a donation from Mrs Una Spark in memory of her husband, John Spark, who graduated from the University of Sydney in 1929 with majors in Mathematics, Latin and Psychology.
The John Spark Memorial Prize is awarded for the best academic performance in 18 credit points of Intermediate Mathematics.
Recipient: David Long.
The Norbert Quirk Prize number 2 is awarded for the best answer by an intermediate student to a question in the SUMS competition.
Recipient: Albert Zhou.
The Tim Brown Prize number 1 is awarded for proficiency in Intermediate Statistics.
Recipient: Gabriel Gregory.
The Rolf Adams Prize number 2 is awarded for the best Special Studies Program Talk among the students enrolled in MATH2916.
Recipient: David Long.
The Rolf Adams Prize number 3 is awarded for the best Special Studies Program Talk among the students enrolled in MATH2917.
Recipient: Albert Zhou.
Prizes for Junior Students
The Norbert Quirk Prize number 1 is awarded for the best answer by a junior student to a question in the SUMS competition.
Recipient: Leo Jiang.
The Cengage Learning Prizes were established in 1981 by the offer of Wadsworth Publishing Company (Australasia) to establish a prize for Junior Mathematics.
The Cengage Learning Prize I is awarded for proficiency in junior advanced level mathematics.
Recipient: Vaishnavi Calisa.
The Cengage Learning Prize II is awarded for proficiency in junior mainstream level mathematics.
Recipient: Jenny Chiang.
Carslaw Scholar
"Carslaw Scholar" is a title conferred on year 10 or 11 students in NSW who gain selection in the Australian Mathematical Olympiad Team.
Recipient: Kevin Xian (James Ruse Agricultural High School), who represented Australia in the International Mathematical Olympiad 2015 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Scholarships
The George Allen Scholarships
The George Allen Scholarships were founded in 1877 by a bequest from the Honourable George Allen. Since 1979 three scholarships have been awarded each year, one for each of Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics.
The George Allen Scholarship for Applied Mathematics is awarded to a student in Applied Mathematics Honours on the basis of performance in Senior Mathematics and Statistics.
Joint recipients: Samuel Jelbart and Adarsh Kumbhari.
The George Allen Scholarship for Pure Mathematics is awarded to a student in Pure Mathematics Honours on the basis of performance in Senior Mathematics and Statistics.
Joint recipients: Ennes Mehmedbasic and Kane Townsend.
The George Allen Scholarship for Mathematical Statistics is awarded to a student in Mathematical Statistics Honours on the basis of performance in Senior Mathematics and Statistics.
Recipient: Sheng Xu.
The KE Bullen Scholarships
Recognizing the work of Professor K E Bullen, these scholarships were established in 1982 by public subscription, and supplemented by further donations. The scholarships are to encourage study in mathematics with the particular emphasis of excellence in Applied Mathematics.
The KE Bullen Scholarship I is awarded to the student who has shown greatest proficiency in Senior units of study and who enrols full-time in Applied Mathematics Honours.
Recipient: Eric Hester.
The KE Bullen Scholarship II is awarded to a student who has shown proficiency in Senior units of study and who enrols full-time in Applied Mathematics Honours.
Joint recipients: Gavin Lee and Alexander Stokes
The KE Bullen International Conference Scholarship is awarded to enable an outstanding PhD student to present at a major overseas conference.
Recipient: Joachim Worthington.
The Philipp Hofflin International Research Travel Scholarship
Established in 2010 with a gift from Dr Philipp Hofflin, University of Sydney graduate, to enable outstanding PhD students in the School of Mathematics and Statistics to explore research collaborations on a global scale.
Recipient: Kamil Bulinski
The KopyStop International Conference Scholarship
Awarded to enable an outstanding postgraduate student in the School of Mathematics & Statistics to present at a major overseas conference.
Recipient: Louis Bhim.
Barker Scholarship No 1
Awarded for proficiency in Intermediate Mathematics.
Recipient: David Long.
Barker Scholarship No 2
Awarded for proficiency in Junior Mathematics.
Recipient: Vaishnavi Calisa.
Barker Scholarship No 4
Awarded for proficiency in Senior units of study in the School of Mathematics and Statistics.
Joint recipients: Abraham Ng and Edwin Spark.
Mrs Elva Rae Talented Mathematics Student Award
Awarded to encourage and support talented female mathematics students to reach their full potential in mathematics.
Recipient: Courtney Darville.