International honour for mathematician

University of Auckland Distinguished Professor Marston Conder has been selected to join the inaugural group of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society (AMS). An invitation to become a Fellow of the Society recognises outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilisation of mathematics.

The distinction is a further honour for Professor Conder, whose work is internationally renowned. Last year alone he was named the first Maclaurin Lecturer by the American and New Zealand Mathematical Societies, was appointed the first Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at The University of Auckland, and received a prestigious James Cook Research Fellowship – awarded by the New Zealand Government to researchers who have achieved national and international recognition in their area of research.

Professor Conder’s expertise is in algebra, in particular the study of symmetry. He specialises in the development and use of combinatorial group theory and computational methods to study the symmetries of discrete structures. These structures occur in a wide range of fields, including many other branches of mathematics as well as molecular chemistry and the design of computer architectures and efficient distribution networks.

The first group of Fellows of the AMS will be officially inducted at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego on 11 January 2013.