On Wednesday 11 March, the Department of Mathematical Sciences was delighted to welcome Professor Mary Rees FRS from the University of Liverpool as the speaker for our annual International Women’s Day lecture. Colleagues, students, and visitors from across the University joined us for an insightful talk, followed by a drinks reception.
Professor Rees is a renowned mathematician whose work has made major contributions to the fields of complex dynamics and ergodic theory. She completed her PhD at the University of Warwick in 1978 and went on to hold research positions at several prestigious institutions, including the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Since joining the University of Liverpool in 1984, she has established herself as a leading figure in dynamical systems.
Her achievements have been recognised through several significant honours. She received the London Mathematical Society Whitehead Prize in 1988, was an invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1990, and in 2002 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, one of the highest scientific honours in the UK.
In her lecture, “Is this a dynamics problem?”, Professor Rees gave an overview of her successful academic journey. In particular, she highlighted the influence of the works of Marina Ratner and Lai Sai Young on her career trajectory. She talked about the famous Collatz conjecture, which she calls as ''her latest obsession''. She illustrated how methods from dynamics have been used to make recent advances towards this conjecture. This serves as an example of how the concept of dynamics has broadened beyond its classical definition as the study of energy and the motion of matter.
The Department is grateful to Professor Rees for her visit and for sharing her expertise with our community. We also extend our thanks to all staff and students who attended and contributed to the discussion. The lecture formed an important part of our International Women’s Day celebrations, highlighting the achievements and influence of women in mathematics.
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