In Memoriam Peter O'Halloran
From BICA (13) 1995:
PETER O'HALLORAN
A PERSONAL
TRIBUTE
R.G. Stanton, University of Manitoba
Early in September, 1 was
talking on the telephone, from the University of Leeds, with Peter O'Halloran
at his home; he was his usual cheerful self, but it was evident, from his
coughing, that he was extremely unwell. When Peter Taylor sent me an email later
in the month that Peter had died, I felt a deep because the mathematical world
has lost a man who could still have contributed a great deal. But we can all be
very proud of the enormous impact that he has had on Australian mathematics
and, indeed, on world mathematics.
My own
feeling is that Peter O'Halloran contributed more to the development of
mathematics in the past 25 years than any other single person. Those of us who
write research papers typically publish results that are read by a small circle
of researchers interested in similar ideas. This is true even of
"important" papers. But Peter influenced millions of students. He
took the idea of a Mathematics Competition, as he had seen it operate at the
University of Waterloo, and developed it to an extent and scope that would have
been impossible to anyone who did not possess his driving energy, his boundless
enthusiasm, and his love for the subject. The Australian Mathematics
Competition alone attracts more than half a million entries a year, and its importance
is underlined by the fact that His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, K.G.,
K.T., graciously consented to be Patron of the Competition. And the other
activities that Peter initiated and promoted have likewise possessed a widely
ranging impact.
Many people over-emphasize the importance of mathematical
research. Research is important, but it is only one facet of mathematics. As
mathematicians, we must also be alive to the importance of the preservation of
knowledge, the transmission of knowledge, and the formation and nurturing of
the next generation of mathematicians. Peter's great service to mathematics was
his phenomenal contribution to the stimulation of mathematical interest in
young people around the world. Through his Competition, and the other
activities now preserved through the Australian Mathematics Trust, he has had a
tremendous influence that no contemporary mathematician can match.
We
are fortunate that Peter's colleague, Peter Taylor, has contributed an account
Of Peter's life and work; this follows immediately after these few words of recognition.
PETER JOSEPH O'HALLORAN
Peter J. Taylor, University of Canberra
October 3, 1994
The death occurred on 25 September,
1994, of Peter O'Halloran, founder of the Australian Mathematics Competition
and a range of national and international mathematics enrichment activities.
Peter was born in Sydney on 27 April,
1931, the youngest of a family of four boys and three girls. His father died
when he was four years old, leaving the family in poor circumstances. His
mother took in boarders to make ends meet and put several of the children
through University. Peter attended Marist Brothers School in Kogarah, Sydney,
and there developed his life-long fascination with mathematics. He went on to
the University of Sydney, on a government teaching scholarship, and graduated
with a Bachelor of Science and Diploma of Education.
Peter married Marjorie in 1955 and taught mathematics in several high
schools in Sydney and the country regions. At Manly Boys High School, which had
a noted discipline problem at the time, Peter also coached the Rugby Union and
Rugby League teams, both with high degrees of success.
In 1965 Peter became head of mathematics at the Royal
Australian Navy Academy at Jervis Bay. It was there that he completed a Master
of Science, specialising in oceanography.
In 1970, now with four children, Peter and Marjorie moved to
Canberra. Peter was one of the original appointments at the Canberra College of
Advanced Education, (later to become the University of Canberra), and taught in
the first official semester of the CCAE (First Semester 1970). At the CCAE
Peter developed other interests, including operations research and what was to become his main interest, discrete mathematics.
Peter's interest in discrete mathematics led him to make many
useful friends, including Ralph Stanton and other noted practitioners of the
subject in Canada, as well as many experts in Australia.
In 1972/3 he was the first CCAE academic to take study leave.
Part of this was taken at the University of Waterloo, Canada, where he gained
the idea of a broadly based mathematics competition for high school students.
On his return he often spoke enthusiastically to his colleagues about the
potential value of such a competition in Australia.
In 1976, while he was President of the Canberra Mathematical
Association, Peter established a committee to run a mathematics competition in
Canberra. This was so successful that the competition became national by 1978
as the Australian Mathematics Competition, sponsored by the Bank of New South Wales (now Westpac). This competition has now
grown to have over 500,000 entries annually, and is probably the biggest
mass-participation event in the country.
In 1979 Peter established the Australian Mathematical Olympiad
Committee. The activities of this committee have grown to a complex web of
competition and enrichment activities, at the highest level culminating each
year in Australia's participation in the International Mathematical Olympiad
(IMO). Australia has participated internationally with distinction; for
example, this year Australia placed 12th out of more than 70 countries. One of
the highlights of peter's career was hosting the 1988 IMO in Canberra; this
event attracted a record number of and set new standards in many aspects of
organisation.
In 1983 Peter founded University of Canberra Mathematics Day,
based on an idea he had encountered in America. This is now a well-established
event that supports similar days in other parts of Australia and that has been
a model for other Mathematics Days throughout the world.
Peter founded the World Federation of National Mathematics
Competitions in 1984. For several years the main activity of the WFNMC was a
Journal edited by Warren Atkins of the University of Canberra Faculty of Education,
which acted as a vital line of communication for people trying to set up
similar activities in other countries. In recent years its activities have
expanded into an international conference (our Vice-Chancellor gave a keynote
speech at the most recent one in Bulgaria) and the WFNMC has become a Special
Interest Group of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction
(ICMI).
In 1989 Peter established the Asia Pacific Mathematics
Olympiad, providing a regional Olympiad for countries in the dynamic Pacific
rim area.
In 1990 Peter completed the spectrum of competitions and
enrichment activities in Australia, with the range of Challenge and Enrichment
activities that are now organised by the Australian Mathematical Olympiad
Committee.
Perhaps the most significant
development in recent years was the establishment Of the Australian Mathematics
Trust of which the University of Canberra is Trustee, and whose Board is
Chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Don Aitkin. The Australian
Mathematics Trust is an umbrella organisation looking after all the activities
discussed above. The organisation will have the resources to ensure the ongoing
nature of these activities and will possibly be the springboard for a number of
new activities which are currently in the pipeline.
Peter's last main duty was to preside
at the WFNMC conference in Bulgaria in July 1994. It was obvious to all who
were there that Peter was ill. It was generally thought that he was experiencing
another bout of pleurisy pneumonia from which he had suffered in 1993. On his return
home, however, further tests revealed that Peter's condition was much more
serious, and cancer was diagnosed He spent most of his last month at home.
On 31 August he was presented at home by the Vice-Chancellor
with the David Hilbert Award, which had been approved for him early in the year
but which he had declined to accept while still president of the WFNMC. A small
party of 30 to 40 of Peter's relatives and local colleagues were in attendance.
The David Hilbert Award is the highest international award bestowed by the
WFNMC and in Peter's case was awarded for "his significant contribution to
the enrichment of mathematics learning at an international level".
On 19 September he was awarded the World Cultural Council's
"Jose Vasconcelos" World Award for Education at a special ceremony at
Chambery, France. This award "is granted to a renowned educator, an
authority in the field of teaching, or to a legislator of education policies
who has a significant influence on the advancement in the scope of culture for
mankind". The qualifying jury is formed by several members of the
interdisciplinary Committee of the World Cultural Council and a group of
distinguished educators.
Because of his illness, Peter could not go to France to
receive his Award. Instead his daughter Genevieve and his son Anthony travelled
to Chambery to accept the Award on his behalf. Fortunately Peter was still
alive on 23 September on their return to Australia and was able to receive the
award in person.
Peter was also recognised in many other ways throughout his
career. In 1983 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM); in
1991 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (honoris causa) from Deakin
University; and in 1994 he was promoted to Professor in his own University.
Many mathematicians have made significant individual
contributions to the subject itself. Peter's influence was much more direct.
With his driving energy and the institutions he created, he has significantly
increased people's awareness of mathematics and what it can do, throughout the
world.
One of Peter's main concern in life was to assist the
disadvantaged. He saw the AMC as being able to bring mathematics to children in
remote places. In the times of the Australian Mathematics Competition, he
travelled the Pacific and introduced the competition to large number of island
nations there, such as Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, French Polynesia (where the
paper was made available in French) and many smaller countries, some of which
only had or occasional steamer contact with the outside world. The Australian
Government recogniscd these efforts and funded this project as one of the few
cultural links between Australia and its Pacific neighbours.
Peter was proud of the fact that more than 50% of the AMC
entrants were girls, but unhappy that they did not get the same representation
among the medallists. He was also proud of the many letters he received from
country schools, thankful for the opportunity to participate in the same event
as their city cousins.
Peter saw the main advantage to be derived from the WFNMC as
being the help it could give to mathematics education in developing countries.
I was seated next to him in a debate on the value of competitions at the 1992
International Conference on Mathematical Education in Quebec where he was paid
the ultimate compliment to which he would have aspired. One delegate made a
well-planned attack on competitions, based on the usual lines, that
competitions encouraged elitism, etc. In response, a delegate from the small
African country of Malawi, who was unknown to Peter, responded with an
emotional thank-you to Peter and the people of the Australian Mathematics
Competition for what they had made possible in her country. This was a most
moving experience.
I made these observations to Peter's eldest brother Ted after
Peter's funeral. Ted had become senior partner in one of Australia’s largest
law firms before going to into semi-retirement and was both a father-figure and
inspiration to Peter. Ted reflected on these comments and noted the similarity
between Peter and another brother Michael (now deceased). Michael had gone into
the Jesuit order and had shown the same concerns for the disadvantaged. He had
become responsible in the order for distribution of intemational aid. It was
probably no coincidence that Peter's and Michael's paths once crossed. They
found themselves together on the Pacific island, several years ago, each going
about his own separate task.
Peter, of course will be irreplaceable. Fortunately, however,
the institutions he established all have the resources, particularly human
resources, to ensure that the good work will continue.
Peter is survived by his wife
Marjorie, four children, and six grandchildren
Rest in peace Private tutor Naples
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