Christopher Budd and James Tanton will each receive the 2020 Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) Communications Award in a ceremony this January at the 2020 Joint Mathematics Meeting in Denver, CO.
Christopher Budd
Christopher “Chris” Budd receives the award “for his passionate popularization of mathematics. Through his positions at Gresham College, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, his books, and his work with science festivals and schools, he inspires audiences of all ages."
Response of Chris Budd
I am very greatly honored to receive the Communications Award from the JPBM. As an applied mathematician, I love both doing mathematics, and applying mathematics to the real world. But I think that it is equally important that we, as a community, communicate mathematics as widely as we possibly can. Communicating mathematics is very much a team effort, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge the many wonderful mathematics communicators that I have worked with over the years, and especially all of my "communicating mathematics" students, who I hope, and expect, will be the mathematics communicators of the future. It is a special pleasure to me that one of the supporters of this award is SIAM, a wonderful organization and I am honored that they acknowledge my work in communicating mathematics with this amazing prize.
Biographical Sketch of Chris Budd
Budd, OBE, obtained his degree in mathematics at the University of Cambridge in 1982 where he was Senior Wrangler, graduating top in his year. Currently, he is professor of applied mathematics at the University of Bath and the Deputy Director of the Institute for Mathematical Innovation. Budd is also professor of mathematics at the Royal Institution in London, where he helps to coordinate the mathematics master class program for young people, and the current Gresham Professor of Geometry at Gresham College. He has written many academic papers, books, and popular articles, and founded the Bath Taps into Science Festival, a major hands-on science festival. He also gives regular public lectures on “Mathematics and the Making of the Modern and Future World” at the Museum of London, and is chair of the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) which coordinates mathematics competitions across the UK. He is married with a son, a daughter, and two dogs, and they like nothing better than going for long walks together in the mountains.
James Tanton
James Tanton receives the award “for global leadership in high school mathematics instruction. Through his “G’Day Math!” online courses, MAA Curriculum Inspirations, numerous textbooks, and the Global Math Project, he is inspiring millions to learn, and teach, math in wonderful new ways.”
Response of James Tanton
Thank you, members and friends of the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics, for this terrific honor. We each, as teachers, doers, lovers, writers, sharers, thinkers, and creators of mathematics, are part of a stunning global community united by the unbridled awe our beautiful subject can bring. Let’s together help one and all on this planet, child and adult, personally experience the soaring joy, the human connection, and the uplifting wonder genuine mathematics offers!
Biographical Sketch of James Tanton
James Tanton (PhD, Princeton 1994) is an author, a consultant, and an ambassador for the Mathematical Association of America, currently serving as the MAA's mathematician-at-large. He has taught mathematics both at university and high school institutions, and is absolutely committed to promoting effective and joyful mathematics thinking, learning, and doing at all levels of the education spectrum.
James writes books, advises on curriculum, consults with teachers, and gives demonstration classes and professional development sessions across the globe, and is founder of The Global Math Project, an initiative set to transform the entire world’s perception of what mathematics can and should be. In his videos he explores careers, fractions, puzzles, graphs, garden paths, and rotations. His audiences are educators, high school students and math enthusiasts of all ages and all backgrounds. Over 1.7 million students took part in the inaugural Global Math Week (GMW2017), co-founded by Tanton. The theme was Exploding Dots, which has now attracted over 5 million participants.
About the Award
The Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) Communications Award, established by the JPBM in 1988, is given annually to reward and encourage communicators who, on a sustained basis, bring mathematical ideas and information to non-mathematical audiences. The JPBM is a collaborative effort of the American Mathematical Society, the American Statistical Association, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
Find out more about the award and see past recipients here.