Praeger, Cheryl Elisabeth (1948 - )

Summary

Cheryl Praeger was Winthrop Professor of Mathematics at the University of Western Australia from 2009 to 2017. She has published widely in the fields of algebra, group theory and combinatorics, devising new theories and algorithms. Her research has led to significant new directions for mathematicians and transformed the teaching of algebra. Praeger has held executive office in a number of Australian and international mathematical organisations, and been involved in the teaching of mathematics at secondary school level.

In 2017 the Australian Mathematics Trust inaugurated the Cheryl Praeger Medal to be awarded to top performing girls in Australian Mathematics Competition.

Details

Chronology

1970

Education - Bachelor of Science with Honours (BSc(Hons)), University of Queensland

1972

Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Queensland

1972

Education - Master of Science (MSc), Oxford University

1973 - 1975

Career position - Research Fellow, Department of Mathematics, Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University

1974

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil), Oxford University

1976 - 1981

Career position - Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Western Australia

1982 - 1983

Career position - Senior Lecturer, University of Western Australia

1983 - 2009

Career position - Professor of Mathematics, University of Western Australia

1984

Career position - Director, Combinatorial Mathematics Society of Australasia

1984 - 1987

Career position - Member (part-time), Commonwealth Schools Commission

1987 - 2004

Career position - Member, London Mathematical Society

1988

Career position - Director of Data Analysis Australia Pty. Ltd.

1989

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Western Australia

1989 - 1992

Career position - Member, Australian Science and Technology Council

1992 -

Career position - Member of the Board, Australian Mathematics Trust

1992

Career position - Director, Combinatorial Mathematics Society of Australasia

1992 - 1994

Career position - President, Australian Mathematical Society

1992 - 1994

Career position - Head of the Department of Mathematics, University of Western Australia

1993

Award - Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc), Prince of Songkla University, Thailand

1994 - 1995

Career position - Chair, Advisory Council, National Strategy Research of Mathematical Sciences

1994 - 1995

Career position - Member, Consultative Council, Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University

1994 - 1997

Career position - Member, Research Advisory Council, School of Mathematical Science, Australian National University

1996 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1996 - 1998

Career position - Dean, Postgraduate Research Studies, University of Western Australia

1996 - 2001

Career position - Deputy Chair, Australian Mathematics Olympiad Committee

1996 - 2005

Career position - Honorary Research Affiliate, Australian National University

1997 - 2005

Career position - Member, Senate, University of Western Australia

1999

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) - for service to mathematics, particularly in the areas of research and education and through professional organisations

1999 - 2003

Career position - Member of Council, Australian Academy of Science

2000 - 2012

Career position - Member, International Advisory Board, New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and its Applications

2001 -

Career position - Chair, Australian Mathematics Olympiad Committee

2001

Award - Centenary Medal - for service to Australian society and science in mathematics

2001 - 2004

Career position - Joint Editor-in-Chief, Journal of algebraic combinatorics

2002 -

Career position - Foundation Board Member, Australian Mathematics Trust

2003 - 2006

Career position - Deputy Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Western Australia

2004 -

Award - Honorary Member, London Mathematics Society

2005

Award - DHC honorary doctorate, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

2007 -

Career position - Editor-in-Chief, Australian Mathematical Society Lecture Series

2007

Award - ARC Professorial Fellow, University of Western Australia

2007 - 2014

Career position - Member-at-Large, Executive Committee, International Mathematical Union

2008 - 2012

Career position - Member, International Commission for Mathematical Instruction

2009 -

Career position - Director, Centre for Mathematics of Symmetry and Computation, University of Western Australia

2009

Award - Western Australia Scientist of the Year

2009 - 2010

Career position - Member, Australian Council of Heads of Mathematical Sciences

2009 - 2012

Award - ARC Federation Fellow

2009 - 2017

Career position - Winthrop Professor of Mathematics, University of Western Australia

2010

Award - B. H. Neumann Award for Excellence in Mathematics Enrichment (jointly), Australian Mathematics Trust

2010 - 2012

Career position - Member, International Science Council Coordination Committee

2011

Award - Moyal Medal and Lecture, Macquarie University

2011

Award - Euler Medal, Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications

2011 - 2013

Career position - Member, Australian Research Council College of Experts

2011 - 2013

Career position - Chair, Advisory Board, Centre for Industry and Applied Mathematics, University of South Australia

2013 -

Award - Fellow, American Mathematics Society

2013 -

Award - Honorary Life Member, Australian Mathematical Society

2013

Award - Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal, Australian Academy of Science

2013 - 2016

Career position - Vice-President, International Commission for Mathematical Instruction

2014

Award - George Szekeres Medal, Australian Mathematical Society

2014 - 2018

Career position - Member, Advisory Committee for International Matters, Australian Academy of Science

2014 - 2018

Career position - Foreign Secretary, Australian Academy of Science

2014 - 2018

Career position - Member of Council, Australian Academy of Science

2015 -

Award - Honorary Member, London Mathematical Society

2015

Award - Mehdi Bezhad Prize, Iranian Mathematical Society

2015

Award - Inducted into Western Australian Science Hall of Fame

2015

Award - Hon DSc, St Andrews University, Scotland

2017

Career position - Emeritus Professor, University of Western Australia

2017

Award - Australian Mathematics Trust named Cheryl Praeger Medal to be awarded to top performing girls in Australian Mathematics Competition

2019

Award - Prime Minister's Prize for Science, Commonwealth of Australia

2021

Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AO) - for eminent service to mathematics, and to tertiary education, as aleading academic and researcher, to international organisations, and as a champion of women in STEM careers

2021

Award - Inaugural Ruby Scott-Payne Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science

2023

Award - Fellow, International Science Council

Related entries

Archival resources

Private hands (Praeger, C.E.)

• Cheryl Elisabeth Praeger - Records, 1973 - 1987; Private hands (Praeger, C.E.). Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Books

• Bhathal, Ragbir, Profiles, Australian women scientists (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1999), 191 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Praeger, C. E.; and Ward, L. A., 'Women in Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Australian Mathematical Society' in Fifty years of women in mathematics, Beery, J. L.; Greenwald, S. J.; and Kessel, C., eds (Springer, 2022), pp. 1029-49. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82658-1_88. Details

Journal Articles

• Anon, 'Our leading lady [Cheryl Praeger]', Gazette of the Australian Mathematical Society, 45 (1) (2021), 21-2. Details
• Praeger, Cheryl E., 'Bernhard Hermann Neumann AC. 15 October 1909 - 21 October 2002', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 56 (2010), 285-316. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2010.0002. Details
• Praeger, Cheryl E., 'Bernhard Hermann Neumann 1909-2002', Historical Records of Australian Science, 21 (2) (2010), 253-82, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR09021. Details
• Praeger, Cheryl E., 'J. P. O. (Phil) Silberstein 1920 - 2016', Gazette of the Australian Mathematical Society, 43 (2) (2016), 112-3. Details
• Praeger, Cheryl E.; and Saxon, Stephen A., 'Wendy Robertson 1927 - 2016', Gazette of the Australian Mathematical Society, 44 (1) (2017), 29-32. Details

Resources

• Prime Minister's Prizes for Science 2015 - 2019 [citations], Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Canberra, 2019. https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20210603161759/https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/prime-ministers-prizes-for-science-2019-to-2015/prime-ministers-prizes-for-science-2019-to-2015. Details
• 'Praeger, Cheryl Elisabeth (1948 - )', Fellows of the Academy, Australian Academy of Science, 2019, https://www.science.org.au/profile/cheryl-praeger. Details
• 'Praeger, Cheryl E (1948-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-632017. Details

Resource Sections

• Neumann, Bernhard, 'Professor Cheryl Praeger, mathematician', in Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 10 November 1999, https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-australian-scientists/professor-cheryl-praeger. Details

See also

• Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, 2023. https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/awards-and-opportunities/thomas-ranken-lyle-medal. Details
• Herd, Margaret ed., Who's who in Australia 2002 (Melbourne: Crown Content, 2001), 2020 pp. Details
• Robson, Alexandra K.; Production Manager and Editor eds, Who's who in Australia 2019 (Southbank, Vic.: AAP Directories, 2018), 1788 pp. Details