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University of Reading

Professor Paul Glaister to chair Joint Mathematical Council

Monday, 26 October 2015

Professor Paul Glaister

Professor Paul Glaister is to become the new Chair of the Joint Mathematical Council of the United Kingdom (JMC), comprising the learned societies, subject associations and professional bodies in the mathematical sciences.

Paul is a Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education at the University, and has headed the Department of Mathematics and Statistics for the last five years. 

The JMC works closely with the Royal Society, including setting up the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education. Among the JMC's members are the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the London Mathematical Society (LMS), the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Mathematical Association (MA), and the Association of Teachers of Mathematics (ATM).

Since its formation in 1963, the JMC has had some prestigious chairs, including a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading, Sir Harry Pitt FRS. Sir Harry was at Reading when Paul came up as a fresher in 1977.

Paul's new role complements his other activities in the field of mathematics and mathematics education nationally. He is a member of the A-Level Content Advisory Board, the A-Level Mathematics Advisory Board, Ofqual’s External Expert Panel for Mathematics, the Council of the IMA, and the External Expert Advisory Board for the A Level Grants Programme.

He is also on various Expert Advisory Boards and Panels for the Department for Education (DfE), including the Standards and Testing Agency Review Group, the HE Task Group, the Expert Panel on Core Maths Qualifications, the Board for Teaching Core Maths, and the Promoting Core Maths Advisory Board.

Paul has recently begun the delivery of a series of briefings across the UK to university Vice-Chancellors and their senior management teams on the relevance of Core Maths to higher education. This activity follows a joint Ministerial communication to universities from Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science (BIS) and Nick Gibb, Minister of State for Schools (DfE), which was accompanied by Paul’s briefing paper on Core Maths.