We hope that you had a good break over Christmas and New Year. As keen as we may be to put the events of 2020 behind us, the new ‘normal’ may be with us a bit longer than we hoped. The MAWA Executive has decided to temporarily close the office in response to the case of Covid community transmission. MAWA continues to operate with staff working from home. As a result, some minor delays might be experienced and we appreciate your understanding. Despite the obvious challenges, MAWA had an extremely productive year in 2020. We hosted our first hybrid conference which allowed us to have live virtual keynotes from Amie Albrecht in South Australia and James Russo in Victoria, both of which were extremely well-received. MAWA is very pleased to announce that year-round access to PL from the conference is now available by subscription. MAWA revived the WA Maths Summer School in January 2021. With support from UWA and Mark White from Perth Modern School, the residential summer school was hosted at Trinity College. Our thanks to Professor Michael Guidici and Emeritus Professor Cheryl Praeger for their support, as well as our guest lecturers, tutors, students and parents for their support. In the last 12 months, MAWA’s revenue from PL, publications and student activities declined significantly, and we are thankful for the Government’s JobKeeper support which allowed us to achieve a small positive operating result. Despite these financial challenges, MAWA has decided against increasing the cost of its student activities, and is hopeful of your continued support in 2021. In staffing news, MAWA has welcomed on board Tom Love as our new Student Activities Coordinator in a part-time role. MAWA has been slowly but steadily expanding its repertoire of student activities and locations for several years and needed a person to coordinate this ever-growing list. We are sorry to say that after a number of years of being the familiar face and voice of MAWA, Holly Hughes has decided to move on and we wish her luck in her new role. In sad news, Dr Peter Neumann passed away at the age of 79 on 18 December 2020. An esteemed British mathematician, Peter was the son of Berhard and Hanna Neumann, who took up positions at ANU in 1963. Hanna Neumann had the honour of being the first female Chair of Mathematics in Australia, leading the way for our own Professor Cheryl Praeger as the second. After receiving the Prime Minister’s Award for Science in 2019, Cheryl was recognised with the highest honour on the Australia Day 2021 Honours List as Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia. Congratulations Cheryl! Stay safe and we hope to see you at MAWA’s third annual Mathematics Expo on 14 March at Crown Convention Centre. This free event is open to everyone and will include lots of games, freebies, resources, and prizes for children of all ages! Dr John West President |