Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Lectures
The Ollerenshaw Lecture is a prestigious annual lecture in the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester, named in honour and recognition of Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw.
Born in Manchester, Dame Kathleen took her degree at Oxford University and has since combined mathematics research with politics, in which sphere she has been Mayor of Manchester and an advisor on education to Margaret Thatcher's government. She is probably best known in mathematics for her work on magic squares, but also has a formidable reputation as an astronomer, and the observatory at the University of Lancaster bears her name. She is passionately committed to encouraging interest in mathematics amongst young people. She has been deaf since the age of eight, and is an inspiring role model to many. Dame Kathleen, who holds honorary degrees from both the Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST, has been a long-standing friend and supporter of mathematics at Manchester, with an especially strong association with UMIST, and has continued to show strong interest and support for the new University of Manchester and the vision behind the '2015 Agenda'.
Forthcoming Lectures
The 2013 Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Lecture is due to be delivered by Professor Robin Wilson in October 2013.
Please check back soon for further details.
Previous Lectures
- 28 Sept 2011The Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Lecture
Professor Chris Budd, Maths In & Out of the Zoo
Alan Turing Building -
14 May 2010The Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Lecture
Professor Tim Gowers, Open Source Mathematics
G.107, Alan Turing Building
If you would like to attend this event, please complete a registration form
- 4.30pm: Coffee and Registration – Atrium
- 5pm: Introduction - Professor Peter Duck
Head of School of Mathematics - 5.10 pm: Professor Timothy Gowers FRS, (Cambridge University)
Open Source Mathematics - Mathematical research has traditionally been a very private pursuit, at least until the moment when the mathematician has a fully polished result to present. Early last year, as an experiment, I tried tackling a mathematical problem in a much more public way: I suggested an initial approach on my blog and invited anybody who wanted to, to contribute thoughts about how the problem might be solved. In this talk I shall discuss the experiment, its surprising outcome, and the problem itself.
- Followed by questions
- 6pm: Closing Speech - Professor Colin Bailey
Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences - 6.15pm: Drinks reception – Atrium
- 7pm: Close
-
24 Oct 2007The Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Lecture
Professor Peter Cameron, Sudoku, Latin squares, Geometry, and Hall's condition
- 4.15pm: Reception and Registration - Atrium
- 4.30pm: Welcome to the Alan Turing Building - informal launch
- Professor John Perkins, Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
- 5.15pm: Ollerenshaw Lecture Commences
- Opening speech - Professor Paul Glendinning
- 5.25: Sudoku, Latin squares, Geometry, and Hall's condition
- Professor Peter Cameron - Queen Mary, University of London
- Solutions to Sudoku puzzles form a special case of a type of combinatorial
designs called gerechte designs, invented in the 1950's for designing
experiments in agricultural research. Finding such designs includes such
problems as finding a Latin square orthogonal to a given Latin square. Also,
the problem of completing such a design from partial information was developed
in statistics.
The experience of solving Sudoku puzzles suggests that finding such designs (with some values given) is hard. It is known that completing a partial Latin square is NP-hard. Some similar problems about gerechte designs are unsolved. The problem can be formulated to look like Hall's marriage theorem, but it is not known whether there are conditions analogous to Hall's which are necessary and sufficient for a solution.
Further conditions can be imposed. One variant, due to Robert Connelly, has particularly close connections to several topics in finite geometry: spreads, resolutions, and perfect codes. - Thanks, Professor Paul Glendinning
- 6.25pm: Drinks reception in the Atrium with optional tours around the new Alan Turing Building
- 7pm: Close
- Peter Cameron webpage
- Photos from the event.
-
7 Mar 2007The Inaugural Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Lecture
Professor Ian Stewart, FRS, Sunday Strolls and Trotting Pigs 300 years of networks
Professor Celia Hoyles, Engaging with mathematics: a challenge for the twenty-first century
Programme (click to view)-
Venue: Rutherford Lecture Theatre, Schuster Building (number 54 on the campus map)
- 3.45pm: Arrival of guests to Rutherford Lecture Theatre, Schuster Building
- 4pm: Opening speech - Professor Paul Glendinning
- Head of School of Mathematics , University of Manchester, Professor Paul Glendinning to chair proceedings and introduce speakers
- 4.05pm: Professor Ian Stewart FRS
- Title: Sunday Strolls and Trotting Pigs 300 years of networks
- 4.50pm: Refreshments - Schuster Foyer
- 5.15pm: Professor Celia Hoyles
- Title: Engaging with mathematics: a challenge for the twenty-first century
- 6pm: Professor Paul Glendinning
- Close and thanks to speakers
- 6.05pm Professor Simon Gaskell
- Vice President for Research(External Affairs), University of Manchester
- Close and thanks to Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw
- 6.15pm: Drinks reception - Schuster Foyer
- 7pm: Close
18th October 2012
The oddity of parity - Professor Sir Martin Taylor (Merton College, Oxford)
This lecture will be given in honour of Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw on the occasion of her 100th birthday. The theme of the talk will be the pervasive role of parity throughout mathematics – ranging from magic squares to some of the most important and topical questions in number theory.
This lecture is suitable for a general audience.
Programme
Venue: Lecture Theatre A, University Place, The University of Manchester
4.30 pm: Coffee and Registration
5.00 pm: Introduction – Dr Tim O'Brien (Associate Director of Jodrell Bank Observatory)
5.10 pm: Lecture - Professor Sir Martin Taylor (Merton College, Oxford)
6.00 pm: Closing speech – Professor Peter Duck, Head of the School of Mathematics
6.15 pm: Drinks reception
7.00 pm: Close
The venue can be found at building number 37 of the University campus map at: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=6507
Alternatively, walking directions from Manchester Piccadilly train station can be found at: http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=13509
Ollerenshaw Lecture 2011 Programme
Biography of Professor Chris Budd
If you would like to attend this event, please complete the registration form
Please note that all spaces for the 2011 event have now been allocated. However, if you would still like to attend, please complete the registration form and we will add your details to the reservation list and contact you should any cancellations be made.
-
Venue: Alan Turing Building (number 46 on the campus map)
The Ollerenshaw Lecture 2010 Friday 14th May 2010
-
Venue: Alan Turing Building (number 46 on the campus map)
-
Peter Cameron was an undergraduate at the University of Queensland
before coming to the UK and obtaining a DPhil from Oxford University
in 1971 under the supervision of Peter Neumann. He held a position at
Oxford before moving to Queen Mary, University of London, where he is
Professor of Mathematics. He is an expert on combinatorics,
permutation groups and the structures (for example, designs, graphs,
codes and geometries) on which they act. He has authored approximately
250 publications, including several books, and has supervised over 30
doctoral students. In 2003 he was joint winner of the Euler Medal and
this year his 60th birthday was marked by an international conference
in Ambleside.