COMMUNIQUÉ May 18, 1999

OTTAWA, Ontario -- Nine students receive top honours in the 31^st Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO). The CMO, Canada's premier mathematics competition, is organized and administered by the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS). A total of 81 students from 48 Canadian schools were invited to write the 1999 CMO based upon their performance in the 1998 Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC) (November 25, 1998), the CMS Correspondence Training Programme and other mathematics competitions. Students tackled five questions during the three hour examination held on March 31, 1999.

"To be an olympiad winner is a remarkable achievement" said Dr. Daryl Tingley, University of New Brunswick at Fredericton, and Chair of the CMS CMO Committee. "A real benefit of contests like the CMO is the motivation it gives students to explore problems not encountered in the standard school curriculum. It also helps students gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the role of Mathematics in the workplace."

1999 Prize Winners: The top winners in the 31st Canadian Mathematical Olympiad are:

First Prize and the Sun Life Cup goes to Jimmy Chui, Earl Haig Secondary School, North York, Ontario. Second Prize goes to Adrian Chan, Upper Canada College, Toronto, Ontario. Third Prize goes to David Pritchard, Woburn Collegiate Institute, Scarborough, Ontario. Honourable Mentions were awarded to Edmond Choi, A.Y. Jackson Secondary School, North York, Ontario; Masoud Kamgarpour, Carson Graham Secondary School, North Vancouver, British Columbia; Jessica Lei, Vincent Massey Secondary School, Windsor, Ontario; Pierre LeVan, Petit Seminaire de Quebec, Hull, Quebec; Dave Nicholson, Fenelon Falls Secondary School, Fenelon Falls, Ontario; Yannick Solari, College Edouard Montpetit, Longueuil, Quebec.

Approximately 87 students from the United States, Turkey and Trinidad and Tobago also wrote the 1998 Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge and one student from Trinidad was invited to write the 1999 CMO.

The prizes will be presented at the CMS Awards Banquet which will take place at the University of Waterloo on Monday, June 14, 1999 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

"All of these winners have done extremely well in a very challenging competition. They have shown the creative and critical problem solving skills that are so essential in today's highly competitive global economy" said Dr. Graham Wright, Executive Director, Canadian Mathematical Society.

The Society is grateful for the support from the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada as the Major Sponsor of the 1999 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad and the other sponsors which include: Industry Canada, the Ministry of Education and Training, Ontario, the Ministry of Education, Quebec, Alberta Education, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New Brunswick at Fredericton, the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing, University of Waterloo, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Ottawa, the Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto, Prentice Hall Canada Inc., Nelson Canada Ltd. and John Wiley and Sons Canada Ltd..

Dr. Graham P. Wright
Executive Director
Canadian Mathematical Society
(613) 562-5702
director@cms.math.ca

or

Dr. Daryl Tingley
Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
University of New Brunswick
(506) 453-4768