Mathematics and Statistics

From the Atlantic Association of Research in the Mathematical Sciences (AARMS) website:

The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) has just announced that Professor John Grant McLoughlin of the University of New Brunswick is the recipient of the 2013 Adrien Pouliot Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to mathematics education in Canada. The award will be presented at the 2013 CMS Winter Meeting in Ottawa.

John Grant McLoughlin is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at UNB (Fredericton) and also holds a cross appointment with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in the Faculty of Science. He obtained his PhD in Mathematics Education in 1997 at the State University of New York, Buffalo. He has held appointments in Mathematics at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College (MUN) and in Mathematics Education at Okanagan University College and Memorial University of Newfoundland. His years of dedicated teaching at the university have earned him a reputation as an innovative caring teacher who works closely with his students, those with strong mathematical ability as well as those who wish to forge new paths with the subject. Based on this body of work, he received the 2008 Allan P Stuart Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching at the University of New Brunswick and in 2011 was named a University Teaching Scholar.

AARMS has been supporting John Grant McLoughlin in running a math outreach program in New Brunswick since autumn 2010. This extensive project has had a wide reach, including the general public through interactive events at Fredericton Library, school children at many different elementary and middle schools, math education students and math teachers; and it has become a part of the annual NB math competition and the CMS UNB math camp. Since 2010, John has been education co-editor of the CMS Notes, along with Jennifer Hyndman of the University of Northern BC. He brings a wealth of experience to this position, decades of working with students and teachers in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and, of course, New Brunswick. His recent activities have included ongoing collaboration (with Ryan Jones) as mathematical guest teachers in Wendy Sinclair's Grade 4 classroom in Fredericton, visits to numerous schools, recreational math exhibits in public settings, organization of The Beauty of Mathematics public library lecture series, and participation in local initiatives including math camps, Math Circles, and efforts to address numeracy skills of nursing students. He continues to be engaged with mathematical contests from Newfoundland and Labrador to British Columbia, and the creation of "hands-on" mathematical activities and problems at all levels.

John's publications and activities reflect his interests in problem solving and outreach. He served seven years on the Editorial Board of Crux with Mayhem, has co-authored (with Bruce Shawyer and Peter Booth) several problems books including three volumes of Problems for Mathematics Leagues in the CMS's ATOM (A Taste of Mathematics) Series. Recently he has co-edited Jim Totten's Problems of the Week. John assisted Rick Brewster, Fae DeBeck and others at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with the organization of Sharing Mathematics: A tribute to Jim Totten. This 2009 initiative subsequently led to Sharing Mathematics becoming an annual event in the BC math community.

The Adrien Pouliot Award was inaugurated in 1995 to recognize individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to mathematics education in Canada. The award is named for Adrien Pouliot, the second CMS President, who taught mathematics at Université Laval for 50 years and was instrumental in developing Laval's engineering and science faculty.