12 December 2019

At the Annual Conference in December 2019, and at MAV’s end of year drinks, the MAV Board and members welcomed three new life members! Congratulations to Dr Ian Lowe, Prof. Colleen Vale and E.Prof. Peter Sullivan for having the honour of Life Membership bestowed upon then.

Life memberships are offered only with unanimous support from the Board. The Life membership Committee undertook significant work to propose and nominate these new life members. The criteria for life membership is substantial, and focused around:

1. Long term involvement and support of the MAV through:

• Significant and active involvement on MAV council or its committees: and/or
• Significant and active support of mathematics education through MAV activities such as MAV professional Learning, annual conference, public lectures, publications, policy development, advocacy, consultations and promotion.

2. Significant and long term-contribution to mathematics education in Victoria through:

• Leadership and innovation in mathematics teaching and learning in schools: or
• Leadership and innovation in the pre-service and in-service education of teachers of mathematics: or
• Innovation in the development of teaching and learning resources for mathematics education.

3. Significant and long term-contribution to valuing mathematics in Victoria society through:

• Promoting the importance and place of mathematics which supports community and student engagement with and understanding of mathematic; or
• Promoting mathematicians as role models for students to aspire to.

All candidates awarded clearly demonstrated that they met the criteria, having made significant contributions over many years.

The MAV President, Mr Micahel O'Connor on behalf of the Board welcomed the following as Life Members, thanks them for their ccontributions and support for MAV over many years and decades:

Dr Ian Lowe:

Through his long career as a teacher/teacher educator and his association with the MAV, Ian has been committed to supporting teachers in the classroom, in fostering high quality teaching and in expanding the horizons of mathematics teaching and learning, especially for students for whom mathematics is needed to support other school subjects and to keep open prospects for further education and training.

Ian was a professional officer at MAV from 2005 to 2017. During this time, he wrote many books and resources that were freely published through MAV. Many of you may remember RIME Reality in Maths Education), which is still widely recognised for its engaging activities. Ian also ran extensive professional development programs and supported schools with various needs.

Ian has been a teacher, lecturer, and a mentor and support to many new mathematics educators.

Emeritus Professor Peter Sullivan

Peter Sullivan is well-known for his extensive work in initial teacher education, teacher professional learning and mathematics education research. At all times his career goal has been to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics. His research has had a broad impact from early childhood education to senior secondary mathematics through an extensive publication record, presentations at local, state, national and international conferences and his influential contribution to many significant committees and review panels. From 2005 to 2008, Peter was a member of the Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences panel of the Australian Research Council College of Experts. He has also worked as Editor for the Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education and the Mathematics Education Research Journal. Peter is a past President of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT), and a past council member of the Mathematical Association of Victoria (MAV). He was the lead writer of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics. In 2016 Peter received the Career Research Medal.

Peter continues to support MAV, running professional learning sessions and attending various events.

Professor Colleen Vale

Colleen has a long and significant history in mathematics education across both primary and secondary sectors, including as a secondary school teacher, and in relation to teacher training, research, publishing and professional development. She has been an MAV Council member, including being President of the MAV, and has been a regular presenter at MAV conferences. Colleen is co-author of the award winning book Teaching Secondary School Mathematics: Research and Practice for the 21st Century and is well known for her professional learning programs with out-of-field junior secondary mathematics teachers, research and projects with teachers on the use of technology and for her interest and work in the field of social justice in mathematics education.

For more information contact Peter Saffin, psaffin@mav.vic.edu.au