LMS SOCIETY AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2017 Friday, 10 November 2017 at 3.00 pm at BMA House, Tavistock Square, London AGENDA 1. Elections to Council and Nominating Committee Members wishing to vote in person at the AGM will be invited to hand their ballot paper to a Scrutineer. 2. Minutes of General Meeting, 30 June 2017 To agree the minutes of the General Meeting held on 30 June 2017 (minutes attached). 3. Review of Society Activities 2016-17 A report will be given by Vice-President Professor Ken Brown on the Society’s activities over the last year. 4. Report of the Treasurer The Society’s Treasurer, Professor Rob Curtis, will present his report on the past year and invite questions. 5. Resolutions: 5.1 Adoption of the Trustees’ Report including the year-end accounts for 2016-17 (Trustees’ Report attached) 5.2 Appointment of Auditors The Society’s President, Professor Simon Tavaré, will invite questions on the resolutions and recommend the adoption of the Trustees’ Report and the appointment of the Auditors. 6. Presentation of Certificates to the 2017 LMS Prize Winners Certificates will be presented to the winners of the Pólya Prize, Senior Whitehead Prize, Naylor Prize and Lectureship, Senior Anne Bennett Prize, Whitehead Prizes and Berwick Prize. 7. Zoubin Ghahramani (Professor of Information Engineering, University of Cambridge; Chief Scientist, Uber) Bayesian statistics, non-parametrics, neural networks, and artificial intelligence Tea break 8. Election Results The election results will be declared by the Scrutineers. 9. Handover of Presidential Office 10. Simon Tavaré (Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics & Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge) – Presidential Address The magical Ewens Sampling Formula Fiona Nixon, Executive Secretary 20 October 2017 Please note there will be a photographer at the meeting. LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY MINUTES Of the General Meeting of the Society held on 30 June 2017 at BMA House, London 1.0 OPENING OF THE MEETING 1.1 The President welcomed attendees to the meeting. 2.0 RESOLUTIONS i) Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 11 November 2016 2.1 The members agreed the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 11 November 2016 were an accurate record of the meeting. ii) Appointment of Scrutineers 2.2 Council had proposed that Chris Lance and Rodney Sharp be appointed as Scrutineers for the 2017 LMS elections for Council and Nominating Committee. 2.3 The President invited attendees to vote on this proposal. The proposal was carried unanimously. iii) Elections to Honorary Membership 2.4 Council had proposed two Honorary Members be elected in 2017: Étienne Ghys and Persi Diaconis. The President read brief citations for each. 2.5 It was unanimously agreed to elect Étienne Ghys and Persi Diaconis to Honorary Membership of the Society. 3.0 ANNOUNCEMENT OF LMS PRIZE WINNERS FOR 2017 3.1 The President announced the winners of LMS Prizes in 2017. The 2017 prizes were: Pólya Prize – Alex Wilkie Senior Whitehead Prize – Peter Cameron Naylor Prize and Lectureship – John Robert King Senior Anne Bennett Prize – Alison Etheridge Whitehead Prizes – Julia Gog, András Máthé, Ashley Montanaro, Oscar Randal- Williams, Jack Thorne, Michael Wemyss, Berwick Prize – Kevin Costello Full citations would appear in the Bulletin of the Society. 4.0 NOMINATIONS TO MEMBERSHIP 4.1 The members agreed to the election of 13 new members of the Society. 1 5.0 ADMISSIONS TO THE SOCIETY 5.1 Members present who had not yet signed the Membership Book were invited to do so. Two members signed the book. 6.0 PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS 6.1 The President invited any non-members in attendance who wished to join the Society to speak with the Membership and Activities Officer. 7.0 PROFESSOR SHEEHAN OLVER (IMPERIAL COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY) 7.1 Professor Sheehan Olver (Imperial College/University of Sydney) gave a talk on The Sokhotski–Plemelj theorem, singular integrals, and solving PDE’s. 8.0 PROFESSOR GWYNETH STALLARD (OPEN UNIVERSITY) 8.1 Professor Gwyneth Stallard (Open University) gave a talk on Complex analysis and complex dynamics: fruitful interactions. 9.0 NEXT MEETINGS 9.1 The next two meetings of the Society would be held on 18 September 2017 in Loughborough (Midlands Regional Meeting) and on 12 October 2017 at De Morgan House (joint London Mathematical Society-Institute of Mathematics and its Applications meeting). 2 London Mathematical Society Report of the Trustees for the period 1 August 2016 - 31 July 2017 Cover image: Praxis 2015 by Mark Francis INTRODUCTION 2016-17 has seen the Society work to workshops, training and advocacy work consolidate the programme of events and other charitable activities would and projects from its 150th Anniversary not be funded. while looking forward to explore and the shape the Society’s future over Ensuring the healthy future of the coming years. Both Council and mathematics in the UK is central to Publications Committee held Retreats, the Society’s mission and advocating discussing the strategic direction of the on behalf of the discipline continues Society and its major income stream. to be a priority. The Society published Mathematical Sciences: The Route The Society is in the process of to Economic Prosperity in 2017, a reviewing its governance arrangements document which provides an overview on a number of levels. One important of the many industrial and economic change that has been implemented sectors that are underpinned by the in 2016-17 and that will take effect in mathematical sciences and the return 2017-18 is a review of the committee on investment that the mathematical structure. Three new Committees have sciences offer to the UK economy. been formed – Early Career Research, The document was distributed at the Society Lectures and Meetings, and Society’s Spring Reception held in May Research Grants – and two Committees 2017, at which guests attended from disbanded – Programme and Research Government, the civil service, various Meetings. The new committees will industry sectors and policy making cover all of the work of the former bodies. The Society continues to be committees, but the new arrangements an active member of the Council for will enable stronger strategic focus on the Mathematical Sciences (CMS) these three key areas of the Society’s and is working to provide evidence to work. Sustaining the mathematical strengthen the case for mathematics on community is one of the Society’s core current policy issues. objectives and the new Early Career Research Committee will provide The Society was delighted to be the vital strategic insight into the support recipient of the inaugural Royal Society required to maintain a healthy people Athena Prize in 2016. The Prize pipeline. was awarded in recognition of the Society’s work supporting women in The Society’s Publications have moved mathematics and as such recognises into an exciting new phase, with three the huge amount of work undertaken new contracts taking effect in 2017, by the women and men of the Women including the new partnership with in Mathematics Committee since the Wiley for the Society’s core journals. Committee’s inception in 1999. The journals and books that are published fulfil two vital objectives This report provides an overview of for the Society: in publishing and the full range of activities undertaken disseminating quality mathematics, by the Society in meeting its charitable while also providing an income which objectives during 2016-17. Further is then reinvested directly into UK information on the Society’s work can mathematics without which many of be found on its website, lms.ac.uk. the Society’s grant schemes, meetings, 3 4 MISSION The London Mathematical Society has, since 1865, been the UK learned society for the dissemination and promotion of mathematical knowledge. Our mission is to advance mathematics through our members and the broader scientific community worldwide. The Membership this work. The Society acknowledges 2,972 members of achievements in mathematics through the Society The membership is the core of the its prize-giving and in those it invites London Mathematical Society. to become Honorary Members, as Mathematicians drive the Society and well as those who are invited to give 312 new members volunteers’ contributions are vital to lectures. Effective communications the Society in defining its priorities, ensure that the Society can identify the in 2016-17 running its activities and achieving current concerns within the community including 109 its objectives. The Society at present and can work to address them. The has 25 committees with 274 volunteer network of LMS Representatives across female members committee roles and other individual UK universities is central to these roles, as well as 31 volunteer roles communications. As of 2016-17 the Persi Diaconis representing the Society on external Society has 60 LMS Representatives committees. A large cross-section with whom it communicates via and Étienne Ghys of the mathematical community is monthly emails and an annual LMS elected Honorary directly involved in the work of the Reps Day in London. The LMS Members Society, engaging widely with other also actively seeks to recruit more organisations across the UK and Representatives to ensure that all UK beyond. The Society’s global reach is mathematical departments are directly Active Network reflected in its membership, with over engaged with the Society through a 20% of LMS members based outside the Representative. A network of Good of LMS UK. Practice Scheme (GPS) Representatives Representatives also provides contact points between The Society was delighted to elect GPS Supporter departments and the Professor Persi Diaconis (Stanford Society to ensure full engagement Global University) and Professor Étienne Ghys with and communication about the membership with (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon) as Good Practice Scheme and matters members from Honorary Members in 2017.