Bruce Henry receives his Paul Erdös Award in Monterrey, Mexico, 08 July 2008 at ICME-11, from ICMI President Michele Artigue and WFNMC President Petar Kenderov.

Vale James Bruce Henry OAM

Born Portland 09 October 1937
Died Melbourne 19 May 2025

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Bruce Henry, a beloved member of the mathematics community.

Bruce, who passed away recently, was undoubtedly one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian Maths Trust. For the very first national edition of the AMC in 1978, Bruce put his hand up to take on the role of Victorian State Director, a job which he continued to do with enormous energy and enthusiasm until 2015.

That would, in itself, be a giant contribution, but Bruce’s greatest legacy was undoubtedly the development of the Maths Challenge program. This was conceived and developed in 1990 by Peter O’Halloran and Bruce Henry, with Bruce taking on the role of Chair of the Challenge Committee, a position which he held until 2007, when Kevin McAvaney took over. The need for such a program was to help to build a pathway for students who may have enjoyed or done well in the AMC, but needed to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to participate in the Olympiad program. The program had (and still has) three stages; a Challenge stage, designed to develop problem-solving skills and techniques, an Enrichment stage, which included a study guide which introduced students to mathematical ideas beyond the school curriculum, and a national contest, now know as the AIMO. Bruce was directly involved in all three stages. He was the chair of the committees which produced both the Challenge stage and the AIMO and was the editor (and a key chapter writer) of the early enrichment books. Even after stepping down as chair of these committees, Bruce continued to contribute as a committee member until quite recently.

Bruce also wrote several problem-solving books for teachers in both primary and middle school, based on Challenge problem ideas and with a taxonomy which helped both teachers and students understand the range of problem-solving techniques which could be applied to problems. These books remain best-sellers in the AMT bookshop.

Bruce received his BH Neumann award in 1992 and in 2008 received an Erdös award (presented by the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions) for his outstanding contribution to mathematical problem-solving and competitions.

Mike Clapper, Canberra
01 July 2025