Corporate Body
Mathematical Association of Western Australia (1958 - )
- From
- 1958
Claremont, Western Australia, Australia - Functions
- Association and Society or membership organisation
- Website
- http://www.mawainc.org.au
- Location
- Claremont, Western Australia
Summary
The Mathematical Association of Western Australia was formed in 1958. It is an association for teachers of mathematics.
Details
It is impossible to pinpoint exactly the first discussions concerning the founding of an organisation concerned with the teaching of mathematics, but I remember talking about the possibility of such a development with Frank Gamblen, after I returned from the South Asian Conference on Mathematical Education in early 1956. I also remember that Ernie Bowen, then a lecturer in the Mathematics Department of the University of W.A., was keen to see established here a branch of the Mathematical Association (of Great Britain); he had been a member of the Mathematical Association of Victoria before coming to Perth.
The first formal steps appear to have been taken in 1958. As the result of an informal meeting held on May 22, 1958, I distributed a circular (dated July 18, 1958) "To All Persons Interested in the Teaching of Mathematics". This circular indicated that a provisional decision had been made at the May meeting that steps be taken to form a Western Australian branch of the Mathematical Association (of Great Britain). [https://mawainc.org.au/history/]
Related entries
Archival resources
JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia
- Mathematical Association of Western Australia - Records, 1958 - 1982, ACC 3094A; JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. Details
Published resources
Books
- Cohen, Graeme, Counting Australia in: the, people, organisations and institutions of Australian mathematics (Broadway Bay, N.S.W.: Halsted Press with the Australian Mathematical Society, 2006), 431 pp, https://austms.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CAI_booklet.pdf. Details
Journal Articles
- Cohen, Graeme L., 'A bibliography of Australian mathematics to 1960 with observations relating to the history of Australian mathematics', Historical Records of Australian Science, 31 (1) (2020), 17-25. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR19008. Details
Resources
- Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-629238. Details
Ailie Smith
Created: 17 January 2003, Last modified: 17 September 2025