On Tuesday November 11, 1997 a portrait of Emeritus Professor B. H. Neumann AC, FAA, FRS, FTICA, FAustMS, FACE, by renowned Australian artist Judy Cassab was unveiled by Professor Don Aitkin (Vice Chancellor of the University of Canberra) and Professor Peter Taylor (Executive Director of the Australian Mathematics Trust) in the Council room at the University of Canberra. The portrait had been commissioned by the Australian Mathematics Trust and will be displayed initially in the University of Canberra main building until a suitable site is available in the Australian Mathematics Trust offices. The painting will occasionally be available for display elsewhere in Australia. In particular it will be available for loan at exhibitions of the National Portrait Gallery.
Professor Neumann first came to take up appointment as Professor of Mathematics at the Australian National University in 1962 after a distinguished career in Germany and the United Kingdom. He was an inspirational figure in founding the Australian Mathematics Trust and has been a member of the Trust's Advisory Committee. He has been President of the Australian Mathematical Society and is an Honorary life member and an Honorary Fellow. He was also the first President of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers and is one of its five life members. In his honour the Australian Mathematics Trust named the B. H. Neumann awards for outstanding and sustained involvement in mathematics enrichment and challenge activities for young Australians. In addition any student achieving a perfect score in the Australian Mathematics Competition, which attracts half a million entrants annually, is awarded a B. H. Neumann Certificate. He is generally acknowledged as the father of modern mathematics in Australia.
The artist Judy Cassab AO CBE has been a well-known and respected member of the Sydney art community since her arrival in Australia in 1951 from Hungary. Two of her most significant works are portraits of Hugh Gaitskell and Robert Morley. Ms Cassab has received numerous portrait commissions both in Australia and internationally. Her portraits of Dame Joan Sutherland and Sir Robert Helpman hang in the Sydney Opera House; she has painted several members of the British Royal family; and she was commissioned by the Australian Government to paint a portrait of Queen Sirikit of Thailand as part of an exchange of gifts between Australia and Thailand. Judy Cassab has twice won the Archibald Prize (1961, 1968), is a four times winner of the Sir Charles Lloyd Jones Memorial Prize, and has won numerous other art awards.
Enquiries concerning the portrait may be made to Professor Peter J Taylor, Executive Director of the Australian Mathematics Trust, University of Canberra, P. O. Box 1, Belconnen, ACT 2616 Australia.
Department of Mathematics, The University of Western Australia
e-mail: praeger@maths.uwa.edu.au