Vale John Webb

Born Cape Town 18 April 1942
Died Cape Town 14 May 2025

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Prof. John Webb, a beloved member of the mathematics community.

John Webb is Cape Town born and bred. He graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1962 and got a PhD from Cambridge University in 1966. Since then he has been a member of the staff in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at UCT. He has been actively involved in outreach programmes for schools, with a focus on competitions and Olympiads, at local, national, African and international level.

He has been the director of the UCT Mathematics Competition since 1987 and launched the South African Inter-Provincial Mathematics Olympiad in 1990. He led South Africa into the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in 1991 and the Pan African Mathematics Olympiad in 2000. He was secretary of the IMO Advisory Board from 2000-2012 and was the director of the 2014 IMO in Cape Town, the first IMO in Africa.

Awards that he received include the University of Cape Town Distinguished Teacher Award in 1984, the Paul Erdös Award from the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions in 1992, the Claude Harris Leon Championship in Mathematics Teaching Award in 1997, the Award for the Advancement of Mathematics from the South African Mathematical Society in 2002, and the Award of the South African Mathematics Foundation in 2015.

John Webb and I were colleagues and friends for MANY years - in mathematics. The most important event that we did together was the IMO in Cape Town in 2014.

I met Prof Webb while I was a secondary school student getting into olympiad mathematics and the IMO. I have the highest respect and appreciation for his inputs into mathematics in South Africa and internationally and for him as a human. His passion in life was mathematics and he was always happy to discuss and share new mathematics with any of his students, colleagues or friends. His contribution to mathematics in South Africa is immense, and in particular I can confidently say that I would not have discovered olympiad mathematics and had my life changed if not for him.

Johann Engelbrecht, Pretoria
Modified by Liam Baker, Stellembosch
20 May 2025

John was a valued participant in the activities of the WFNMC for decades. Whether it was as an author for Mathematics Competitions, as a participant in the congresses of the WFNMC or as the regional representative for the WFNMC in Africa, his contributions were plentiful and much appreciated.

His achievements in promoting mathematical competitions were acknowledged by the WFNMC with the Erdös award in 1992, and he was a great friend to many within the federation.

is absence is sorely felt by all in the WFNMC.

Robert Geretschläger