Margaret Hayman (1923 – 26 July 1994, born Margaret Riley Crann) was a British mathematics educator who co-founded the

British Mathematical Olympiad The British Mathematical Olympiad (BMO) forms part of the selection process for the UK International Mathematical Olympiad team and for other international maths competitions, including the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, the Romanian Mas ...

, wrote mathematics textbooks, and became president of the

Mathematical Association The Mathematical Association is a professional society concerned with mathematics education in the UK. History It was founded in 1871 as the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching and renamed to the Mathematical Association in ...

Life

Margaret Riley Crann was born on 7 August 1923 in

New Earswick New Earswick is a model village and civil parish in the unitary authority of City of York in North Yorkshire, England, near the River Foss, north of York and south of Haxby. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 2,812, redu ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, where her father Thomas Crann was a research chemist and her mother a teacher; she grew up as a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

. After studying at the Mill Mount School in York, she read mathematics and then geography in

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, and earned a master's degree from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, beginning in 1941 and finishing in 1944. She became a social worker in Birmingham for a year before taking a position as a mathematics teacher at

Putney High School Putney High School, GDST is an independent girls' day school in Putney, London. Often referred to as simply Putney, the school admits students from the ages 4–18. Founded in 1893 it is a member of the Girls' Day School Trust, a union of 26 ...

, a girls' school in London where she eventually became head of mathematics. In 1947, she married mathematician

Walter Hayman Walter Kurt Hayman FRS (formerly Haymann; 6 January 1926 – 1 January 2020) was a British mathematician known for contributions to complex analysis. He was a professor at Imperial College London. Life and work Hayman was born in Cologne, Ger ...

. He writes that they met at the

Jesus Lane Jesus Lane is a street in central Cambridge, England. Also located on Jesus Lane are Wesley House, Methodist theological college (or seminary), on the north side and Westcott House, a Church of England theological college, on the south side ...

Friends Meeting House A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held. Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Ornamentation, spires, a ...

in Cambridge, in her third and his first year at Cambridge, and that they fell in love after she hit him with a celery stick for making a pun. Beyond her professional interests, she was also an amateur violinist and activist, joining the Aldermaston Marches for CND, fundraising for various causes and, in her later years, joining the board of North Yorkshire MIND. Margaret and Walter had three daughters: Daphne, Carolyn and Sheila. She retired from Putney High School in 1985, and returned with her husband to Yorkshire. She died on 26 July 1994.

Contributions

In 1966, Hayman and her husband founded the British Mathematical Olympiad. Hayman took an active part in the meetings of proponents of the competition, helped negotiate the role of the British Olympiad in the

International Mathematical Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious mathematical competition in the wor ...

, and fought for funding for the competition and for the good will of the Mathematical Association towards the competition. She taught master classes in mathematics teaching for the

Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

, and became the author of mathematical textbooks, including: *''Multiple Choice Modern Mathematics'' (Nelson, 1969) *''Essential Mathematics'' (Macmillan 1971) She became president of the Mathematical Association for the 1974–1975 term, and a member of the council of the

Institute of Mathematics and its Applications The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) is the UK's chartered professional body for mathematicians and one of the UK's learned societies for mathematics (another being the London Mathematical Society). The IMA aims to advance ...

. Her philosophy as president of the Mathematical Association involved keeping the mathematics curriculum flexible enough to ensure that all pupils received a mathematical education fitting their individual needs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayman, Margaret 1923 births 1994 deaths Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge British mathematicians British women mathematicians British mathematics educators English Quakers Fellows of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications Mathematics education in the United Kingdom 20th-century Quakers