The New Zealand Mathematical Society is a New Zealand based learned society of mathematicians. It is listed by the Royal Society of New Zealand as the affiliate organisation responsible for mathematics research,[1] and by the International Mathematical Union as the national mathematical society of New Zealand.[2] The total membership in the society has varied from approximately 100 soon after its 1974 foundation to between 200 and 300 at its 25th anniversary in 1999.[3][4]
The NZMS has its origins in the annual New Zealand Mathematics Colloquium, held beginning in 1966,[3] and in a 1967 visit to New Zealand by Bernhard Neumann during which he promoted connections between the New Zealand and Australian mathematics communities.[4] A drafting committee for the new society was formed at the 1973 colloquium, despite some opposition from the RSNZ's National Committee for Mathematics,[5][6] and the society was founded in 1974 with David Vere-Jones as founding president.[4]
The society publishes the Newsletter of the New Zealand Mathematical Society three times a year,[3][7] and co-sponsors the New Zealand Journal of Mathematics (ISSN1179-4984) with the Department of Mathematics of the University of Auckland.[3][8] The journal was given its name and co-sponsorship in 1992, and is the successor to a previous publication founded in 1969, the Mathematical Chronicle of the University of Auckland.[3][8][9]
Other activities of the society include hosting student competitions, visiting lecturers, and colloquium speakers, and providing travel grants for New Zealand students and mathematicians to attend conferences. A small number of distinguished mathematicians with ties to New Zealand have been named as Honorary Life Members of the society, including Henry Forder, Vaughan Jones, and Bernhard Neumann.[3]
