Cheryl Praeger’s passion for maths blazes a trail

Australian of the Year nominee Cheryl Praeger is an inspiration to aspiring mathematicians.

Cheryl Praeger has profoundly influenced the mathematics that underpins computer cryptography used for secure banking, digital signatures and internet connections. Picture: Gary Ramage

Cheryl Praeger almost walked away from a career studying mathematics because a school guidance counsellor told her it was too difficult for girls. Luckily, she ignored the advice and instead­ followed her passion.

The University of Western Australia emeritus professor has gone on to become one of our greatest mathematicians, blazing a trail for other women to follow.

It is for her inspiration to ­aspiring mathematicians and her pioneering work in group theory, permutation groups and combin­atorics that Professor Praeger, 71, has been nominated for this newspaper’s Australian of the Year award.

In September, the internation­ally acclaimed Professor Praeger was named by The Australian’s 2019 Research magazine as one of the country’s top researchers.

A month later, she was awarded the $250,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for her discoveries in pure and applied maths.

Born in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, Professor Praeger grew up in regional towns in southeast Queensland before finishing her schooling in Brisbane.

She was passionate about mathematics from an early age and honed her teaching skills by helping other students with their work. Ignoring her guidance counsellor’s advice, she studied for a bachelor of science degree majoring in mathematics at the University of Queensland, later com­pleting a masters and doctorate at Oxford University.

Her field of research includes the mathematics of symmetry, which can be found in natural and built environments.

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The algorithms Professor Praeger has developed have been used in computer systems and paved the way for further advance­ments. Her research has had practical uses in enabling search engines to retrieve infor­mation from the internet.

Over four decades, she has contributed to 410 publications and many of her numerous awards have marked the first time a woman has won the prize.

Professor Praeger has also served as president of the Aust­ralian Mathematical Society and has honorary doctorates from universities in Iran, Thailand, Belgium, Britain and Slovenia.

We encourage our readers to put in a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year, which was first won in 1971 by economist HC “Nugget” Coombs. Prominent Australians can be nominated by filling out the coupon above, or sending an email to [e-mail] or going to our website, theaustralian.com.au. Nominations close on Thursday, January 23.