In my first column as the new President of the AustMS I would like to begin by thanking my predecessor, Professor Jacqui Rammage, for all the wonderful work she has done for the Society in her term as President.Despite incredibly difficult professional as well as personal circumstances, Jacqui has successfully navigated the AustMS through perhaps the most difficult year of its 65-year history.Not only did the COVID-19 pandemic put a spanner in the works of many of the Society’s regular activities in 2020, it also put the entire higher education sector under severe financial stress, creating much uncertainly in many mathematics departments and schools across the country.Jacqui was eminently aware that the increased casualisation of the academic workforce meant that early career mathematicians and those with caring responsibilities— all too often female mathematicians— paid a disproportionately high price during the crisis.Jacqui strongly advocated for measures that could alleviate some of the many stresses experienced by junior mathematicians, resulting for example in the near-doubling of the budget for the important AustMS Lift-off Fellowships.Jacqui, on behalf of all of the Society, thanks again for your hard work and dedication.I very much hope you will soon get the opportunity to finally reunite with your loved ones.
展开▼
