Cheryl Praeger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cheryl Praeger
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Praeger by the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia
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| Born | 7 September 1948 |
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| Institutions | University of Western Australia |
| Doctoral advisor | Peter M. Neumann |
Cheryl Elisabeth Praeger (born 7 September 1948) is an amazing Australian mathematician. She was born in Toowoomba, Queensland. She is known for her important work in advanced mathematics, especially in areas like group theory and algebraic graph theory.
Cheryl Praeger has taught many students and published a lot of research. She is now an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Western Australia. This means she is a retired professor who still keeps her title because of her great contributions.
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Becoming a Mathematician
Cheryl Praeger finished high school at Brisbane Girls Grammar School. She wanted to study more mathematics. When she asked for advice, she was told to become a teacher or nurse instead. The person she spoke to thought math might be too hard for girls.
But Cheryl didn't give up! She went on to earn her first degrees from the University of Queensland. She met women who were already mathematicians, which showed her it was possible. She chose to focus on mathematics after her second year of university.
Studying at Oxford
After her studies in Australia, Cheryl received a special scholarship. This allowed her to go to the famous University of Oxford in England. She studied at St Anne's College and earned her doctorate degree in 1973. Her main interest was in a branch of math called algebra.
After getting her doctorate, she came back to Australia. She also spent some time teaching at the University of Virginia in the USA. Later, she joined the University of Western Australia. This short-term job turned into a long and successful career. In 1989, she received another special degree from the University of Western Australia for her work.
Cheryl Praeger's Career
Cheryl Praeger spent most of her career at the University of Western Australia. She became a full professor in 1983. She also held many important leadership roles. For example, she was the head of the Mathematics Department. She also led the university's postgraduate research studies.
Mentoring Future Mathematicians
Professor Praeger has guided more than 30 students through their advanced degrees. One of her students, Akshay Venkatesh, went on to win the Fields Medal in 2018. The Fields Medal is considered one of the highest awards in mathematics. This shows how good Cheryl Praeger is at teaching and inspiring others.
Speaking Around the World
Throughout her career, Cheryl Praeger has been invited to speak at many conferences. She has traveled to countries all over the world. These include places like China, USA, UK, Germany, and Japan. This means her work is important and recognized globally.
Awards and Honours
Cheryl Praeger has received many awards and honours for her contributions to mathematics. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. She was also the first female president of the Australian Mathematical Society.
Some of her notable awards include:
- She received a Certificate of Merit in 1976 for helping with a drowning rescue.
- She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1999. This is a high honour for her service to mathematics.
- In 2009, she was named Western Australian Scientist of the Year.
- She received the Moyal Medal in 2011, being the first woman to get this award.
- She was awarded the Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal in 2013. She was the first woman to receive this medal since it started in 1935.
- In 2014, she received the George Szekeres Medal. She was also the first woman to win this award.
- She was inducted into the Western Australian Science Hall of Fame in 2015.
- In 2019, she won the prestigious Prime Minister's Prize for Science.
- In 2021, she was promoted to Companion of the Order of Australia. This is Australia's highest civilian honour.
Awards for Women in Math
Two special awards have been named after Cheryl Praeger. Since 2014, the Cheryl E. Praeger Travel Awards help female mathematicians travel for their work. Since 2017, the Cheryl Praeger Medal is given to the best female contestants in the Australian Mathematics Competition. These awards encourage more girls and women to pursue mathematics.
Other Important Activities
Cheryl Praeger has been involved in many important groups and committees. She has advised the Prime Minister on science matters. She also worked to encourage more women to join science, engineering, and technology fields.
She helped create the Family Maths Program Australia (FAMPA). This program helps primary school children learn and enjoy mathematics. She has also chaired the Australian Mathematical Olympiad Committee. This committee helps talented young mathematicians.
Cheryl Praeger has also worked with international math organizations. She was part of the executive committee of the International Mathematical Union. She also worked to promote women in science and engineering across Asia.
Personal Life
Cheryl Praeger is married to John Henstridge. They got married in 1975 and have two children, James and Tim.
Besides her amazing math skills, Cheryl Praeger is also a talented musician. She holds a special music degree in piano performance. She has played the organ and piano for her church since 1985. She enjoys playing keyboard music, sailing, hiking, and cycling.
Research in Mathematics
Cheryl Praeger published her first research paper in 1970, even before she finished her first degree. She is one of the most often-cited authors in pure mathematics. She has written over 450 papers and worked with more than 200 other mathematicians.
Her research focuses on the mathematics of symmetry. This includes areas like group theory, combinatorics, and geometry. She has made many important discoveries.
Key Research Areas
- She worked with Peter Cameron to prove the Sims conjecture in 1983. This was an early use of the "classification of finite simple groups."
- With Jan Saxl and Martin Liebeck, she wrote important papers about permutation groups. They helped classify different types of these groups.
- Cheryl Praeger also developed a new way to analyze symmetric graphs. This method is now a standard tool in algebraic graph theory.
- She helped create the first randomized computer program to recognize certain types of mathematical groups. This led to a big international project.
Selected Publications
- with Martin Liebeck, Jan Saxl: The maximal factorizations of the finite simple groups and their automorphism groups, American Mathematical Society 1990
- with Leonard Soicher: Low rank representations and graphs for sporadic groups, Cambridge University Press 1997
- with Jason Fulman, Peter Neumann: A generating function approach to the enumeration of matrices in classical groups over finite fields, American Mathematical Society 2005
- with Martin Liebeck, Jan Saxl: Regular subgroups of primitive permutation groups, American Mathematical Society 2010
- with Csaba Schneider: Permutation Groups and Cartesian Decompositions, Cambridge University Press 2018
Images for kids
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Praeger by the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia
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Praeger receiving the Prime Minister's Prize for Science in 2019
