Wilfred Gordon Malcolm (29 November 1933 – 6 October 2018) was a New Zealand mathematician and university administrator. He was professor of

pure mathematics Pure mathematics is the study of mathematical concepts independently of any application outside mathematics. These concepts may originate in real-world concerns, and the results obtained may later turn out to be useful for practical applications ...

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

from the mid 1970s, until serving as vice-chancellor of the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

between 1985 and 1994.

Biography

Born in

Feilding Feilding is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on New Zealand State Highway 54, State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. ...

on 29 November 1933, Malcolm was educated at Feilding Agricultural High School. He went on to study at

Wellington Teachers' College Wellington College of Education (formerly Wellington Teachers' Training College) was established in 1888 with the purpose of educating teachers in New Zealand. It became the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, formed from ...

and

Victoria University College Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, graduating

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

with first-class honours in 1957. He won a Shirtcliffe Fellowship, which enabled him to take parts II and III of the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a di ...

, specialising in algebra and topology, at 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 ...

. While in England, Malcolm married Edmée Ruth Prebensen. Malcolm returned to Victoria, where he took up a lecturership in pure mathematics. Between 1964 and 1966, he spent time away from the university, working as the general secretary of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Evangelical Unions. However, he returned to lecturing at Victoria in 1967, and was promoted to senior lecturer the following year. In 1972, he completed his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

thesis, titled ''Ultraproducts and higher order models'', supervised by George Hughes and

Max Cresswell Maxwell John Cresswell (19 November 1939 – 22 September 2024) was a New Zealand philosopher and logician who was known for his work in modal logic.''Festschrift for Max Cresswell on the occasion of his 65th birthday.'' In: ''Logique et Anal ...

from the Department of Philosophy, and C.J. Seelye from the Mathematics Department. In 1985, Malcolm moved to the University of Waikato to take up the vice-chancellorship, serving in that role until 1994. Malcolm was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

in 1990. In the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to tertiary education. The following year, he was conferred with an honorary doctorate by the University of Waikato. The Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research at Waikato was named in his honour in 2002, in recognition of his contribution to education. Malcolm died in Auckland on 6 October 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malcolm, Wilf 1933 births 2018 deaths People from Feilding People educated at Feilding High School Victoria University of Wellington alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge New Zealand mathematicians Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington Academic staff of the University of Waikato New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire