[cmath] 2007 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD - DR. GRAHAM WRIGHT

[president at cms.math.ca]

NEWS RELEASE

For release: IMMEDIATE (August 15, 2007)

2007 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD - DR. GRAHAM WRIGHT

OTTAWA, Ontario - The Canadian Mathematical Society has awarded the 
2007 Distinguished Service Award to Dr. Graham P. Wright of the 
University of Ottawa. The Distinguished Service Prize is given 
annually in recognition of sustained and significant service to the 
CMS or the Canadian mathematical community.

Graham Wright has been Executive Director of the CMS since 1979 and 
throughout that time has profoundly influenced and shaped the Society. 
His skilful and dedicated service to the CMS has been a major factor 
in the dramatic growth and transformation of the Society. Dr. Wright 
has been a key part of virtually all aspects of the Society's 
operations, including his service as Managing Editor of many of the 
CMS's scientific publications, his ongoing work as an organizer of 
Math Camps and Mathematics Competitions (notably his work for the 1995 
International Mathematical Olympiad held in Toronto), and his tireless 
efforts in support of the Society's committees and scientific 
meetings. He has helped the Society develop its web-based electronic 
services, and has guided the outreach and fundraising activities of 
the Society. His work in building up and overseeing the CMS Executive 
Office in Ottawa, as well as other CMS editorial offices, helped 
establish the highly professional permanent infrastructure that 
supports the work of the Society's many volunteers. The CMS would not 
have its current impact on the professional mathematical community, 
nor its current wide range of programs in research, publication, and 
mathematics education, without the extraordinary contributions of 
Graham Wright.

Indeed, the singular nature of Dr. Wright's contributions to the 
Society has led the CMS Board of Directors to announce its intention 
to rename its Distinguished Service Award, as of 2008, as the Graham 
Wright Award for Distinguished Service.

Dr. Graham Wright was born in England and obtained his B.Sc Honours 
Degree at the University of Surrey in 1967. He earned his Ph.D. in 
1971, also from the University of Surrey, under the supervision of 
Professor Felix Arscott. After one year as a visiting graduate student 
at the University of Calgary, Wright joined the Department of 
Mathematics at the University of Ottawa in 1970. In 1975, he received 
an Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) 
Teaching Award for Outstanding Contributions to University Teaching. 
His research interests are in doubly-periodic differential equations.

Graham Wright has been a Co-organizer of the CMS-University of Ottawa 
Math Camps since 2000 and of the Math Horizons Day for Ottawa area 
high school students since 2002.

Graham Wright, together with Dr. Mayer Alvo, was responsible for the 
establishment of two co-operative education programs in Mathematics 
and Computing. These programs, established in 1980, were the first 
co-op programs offered at the University of Ottawa. Wright was a 
past-chair of the NSERC Grant Selection Committee for Scholarly 
Publications, the Assistant Chief Operating Officer for the 36th 
International Mathematical Olympiad which was held in Canada in 1995. 
Since 1994 he has served on the Selection Committee for the Prime 
Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Thomas S. Salisbury
President, Canadian Mathematical Society
Telephone: 416-736-2100, ext. 33921
president at cms.math.ca