Contact Information

Questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding the Eric Muller Math and Stats Learning Centre can be confidentially addressed to:

Jesse Larone, Mathematics Development Programs Coordinator
Phone: (905) 688 – 5550 x
Email: [email protected]
If you wish to submit feedback anonymously, please click here.

Additional Resources

Students who may be interested in hiring a private tutor can contact Alan Liu ([email protected]), in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics main office (MC J 415), for a list of potential tutors.  It is highly recommended that students seeking a private tutor first speak to their course instructor, and/or the Department of Mathematics and Statistics main office, before contacting outside sources.

Learning Services, through the Student Development Centre, also provides drop-in math help, which focusses on learning strategies and problem-solving techniques.  Students can visit their website for the drop-in help schedule, as well as a list of informative workshops.

Introduction to the Mathematics Skills Test

The Department of Mathematics & Statistics offers three first-year calculus courses: MATH 1P01 (Calculus Concepts I), MATH 1P05 (Applied Calculus I) and MATH 1P97 (Calculus with Applications).  A full description of each course is available in the Academic Calendar.  If you are required to take a calculus course, it is important that you check your program requirements to determine which courses you are eligible to take.  If you are eligible for more than one calculus course, please consult your academic advisor to determine which course is most appropriate for you.

The Mathematics Skills Test (MST) is mandatory for all students registered for MATH 1P01 or MATH 1P05.  In order to receive a credit for these courses, you must successfully complete the MST. There are two testing periods scheduled for each year: one starting mid-August for the fall term and one in early January (before classes start) for the Winter Term.

For students wishing to take Math 1P01 and Math 1P05 in Fall 2024, the Mathematics Skills Test for Fall 2024 will take place on campus the week of August 12-16th. Students on the waitlists for those courses will be contacted by mid-July 2024 with further details, including a link to register for a test writing time. Students who register for Math 1P05 Winter 2025 will be contacted during the December exam period regarding the testing period for January 2025.

Further Information about the summer 2024 Skills Test will be posted by mid-July 2024.

Please note that students must first pass the skills test before being admitted into Math 1P01 or Math 1P05 Fall 2024. To gain entrance to the test, please make sure you are on the waitlist for your course. Students who are on the waitlist  Math 1P01 or Math 1P05 Fall 2024 will be contacted by mid-July 2024 regarding the testing period for August 2024.

Mathematics Skills Test Objectives

The purpose of the MST is to:

• allow both the Department of Mathematics & Statistics and the student to assess whether he/she has the required mathematical foundation to be successful in a first-year calculus course;
• assist both the Department of Mathematics & Statistics and the student in determining which sequence of mathematics courses will be the most beneficial to the student’s learning and success; and to
• provide students with insight into the level of mathematics proficiency expected for first-year calculus courses.

Content of the Mathematics Skills Test

The test consists of twenty questions, covering essential pre-calculus material from high school level mathematics.  The test areas and associated topics are:

• Algebra (equations of lines, factoring, simplifying expressions, solving equations and inequalities, absolute value and long division of polynomials)
• Functions and Modeling (domains, compositions, transformations, symmetry, inverses, roots, parabolas, and modeling)
• Transcendental Functions (exponential, logarithmic and trigonometric functions)

Preparing for the Mathematics Skills Test

The MST is conducted using an online testing environment called Möbius. Once you have been admitted to the Math Skills Test Brightspace, you must activate your Möbius account. Please note it may take over 72 hours after you have been added to the waitlist for you to be able to access the Math Skills Test Brightspace page which allows access to the system. To activate your Möbius account if you have not already done so, click on the following link. You will sign in to Sakai with your Brock login and password. Please note: Sakai should automatically log you into Möbius. If you are prompted to log into Möbius, please see the steps outlined in our Help with Technical Issues with Möbius document.

Math 1P01 and Math 1P05 Fall 2024:  Activation link in Brightspace (requires brock campus login and password)

Note: You may need to click on the Open Link button in Brightspace after clicking the activation link

After your account is activated, you must first complete a Readiness Test that will provide you with an orientation to the system. It is important to read the Mathematics Skills Test Instruction Booklet prior to taking this test. This booklet contains detailed information on how to use the Maple T.A. system and a Möbius Notation Guide and Examples of Complicated Möbius Syntax.  Students will receive this booklet by email. It is also available on this webpage.

The Readiness Test should take approximately 20 minutes.  Once it is complete, you will have access to a Practice Skills Test which is similar to the Mathematics Skills Test that you will take on campus. The practice test is randomly generated each time it is taken so you are strongly encouraged to carefully review each practice test attempt and then carefully go through the review materials to help prepare for the MST. Students are strongly encouraged to take the practice test under the same conditions as the in-person test: No calculators or other aids other than scrap paper.

Registering for a Mathematics Skills Test Writing Time

There are 10 possible writing times for the Mathematics Skills Test. Note that this may be subject to change due to enrollment. 

• Monday, August 12th, 2024: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
• Monday, August 12th, 2024: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
• Tuesday, August 13th, 2024: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
• Tuesday, August 13th, 2024: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
• Wednesday, August 14th, 2024: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
• Wednesday, August 14th, 2024: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
• Thursday, August 15th, 2024: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
• Thursday, August 15th, 2024: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
• Friday, August 16th: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
• Friday, August 16th: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Taking the Mathematics Skills Test

Students registered in Math 1P05 Winter 2024 must activate their account, register for a test writing time and then successfully complete the Mathematics Skills Test with a grade of 14 or higher (70%). If a student does not successfully complete the test in their first attempt, they can write the skills test once more at an alternate writing time before January 20th.

Important Note: Students must verify that they can login to the system prior to making attempt at the test. Students should arrive 15 minutes before the test starts and bring their student ID as well as a pencil and an eraser. We will provide scrap paper and the syntax guide. No other aids, including calculators, are permitted. Refer to Preparing for the Mathematics Skills Test above.

Completing the Mathematics Skills Tests

You will have two hours to complete the Mathematics Skills Test.  You must achieve a grade of at least 70% on the Mathematics Skills Test in order to remain in Math 1P01 or 1P05. . If you fail to achieve 70% on your first attempt, students will be able to register for a second attempt the week of August 26th-30th. There will also be three online and two in-person workshops the week of August 19th – 23rd. Students will be emailed the week of August 14th-18th with further information on the workshops including instructions on how to register. Students will also be emailed the week of August 19th – 23rd with further information on the second attempt and registration information. This website will also be updated. We strongly recommend in the event of a failed first attempt for students to carefully go through the test, go through the workshop video posted to Brightspace and consult the review resources. Additional attempts will NOT be given except in special circumstances.

Second Attempt Testing Times (Tentative)

• Monday August 26 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
• Monday August 26 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
• Tuesday August 27 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
• Tuesday August 27 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
• Wednesday August 28 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
• Wednesday August 28 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Failing to Complete the Mathematics Skills Tests

Successful completion of the MST is required. Students who are unable to pass the Mathematics Skills Test will not be permitted to remain in Math 1P01 or Math 1P05 and will be strongly encouraged to take Math 1P20: Introduction to Mathematics instead. This is to help prepare students for Math 1P01/1P05, which traditionally are difficult courses for students. We intend to create a path for success: Math 1P01 and Math 1P05 will be offered again in Fall of 2024. Students who fail the test who do not remove themselves from Math 1P05 will be deregistered from the course after Wednesday, September  18th 2024.

Exemptions for the Skills Test

Students who successfully completed the Mathematics Skills Test at a previous offering do not need to rewrite the test. However they must contact Neil Marshall to confirm their exemption status.  Students with a grade of 80% or higher in Math 1P20 must also contact Neil Marshall to confirm their exemption status. Absolutely no student is exempt from the MST unless he/she has received explicit permission from Neil Marshall.

Resources for the Mathematics Skills Tests

• Mathematics Skills Test Instruction Booklet
  
• Mathematics Skills Test Quick Start Guide 
• Help with Technical Issues with Möbius
• FAQ for the Mathematics Skills Test
• Links to Review Materials
• Reviewing your Practice Test(s)
• Entering Answers into Möbius and Previewing your Answers Guide
• Möbius Syntax Guide
• Examples of Complicated Möbius Syntax
• Möbius Units Guide

Contact

Jesse Larone
Mathematics Development Programs Coordinator
Department of Mathematics & Statistics
[email protected]

MATH 1P01/1P02 and 1P05/1P06: Workshops

The Eric Muller Math and Stats Learning Centre sometimes organizes workshops for students registered in MATH 1P01/1P02 or MATH 1P05/1P06. The workshops are offered if possible and at the request of the course instructor near midterms and before final exams during the fall and winter terms. Workshops targeting specific topics either in prerequisite or course materials are also sometimes offered.

Questions can be directed to Neil Marshall ([email protected] or 905 688 5550 x3138).

The policies and procedures are intended for both visiting students and Learning Centre Teaching Assistants. These guidelines aim to clarify the role and responsibility of every person who uses the Mathematics and Statistics Learning Centre.

The role of the student:

Before you arrive at the Mathematics and Statistics Learning Centre, there are a number of steps you can take to make your visit as successful as possible.

• Check the Learning Centre schedule to determine when your course TA will be available, or when general first-year course help is offered.
• Come to the Learning Centre with your books, lecture notes, and a list of questions. If you are working on an assignment, bring the question page with you.
• Attempt to solve your question first. Plan to show the TA your work, and explain what you did and why.
• Prepare a list of questions, or specific examples, with which you are struggling. Identify which steps (or topics) you understand, and which ones need further explanation.

During your time in the Learning Centre, it is your responsibility to ask questions of the TA, and to continue to put independent thought into your work.

The role of the Teaching Assistant:

Teaching assistants are in the Learning Centre to provide students with additional course support. While in the Learning Centre, students can expect that the TAs will:

• assist in understanding course concepts by working through examples, practice problems, and other course materials, to the best of their ability.
• provide additional guidance and clarification, but not solve or provide answers to questions, on course assignments.
• promote an open and welcoming learning environment.

It is the responsibility of all users of the Mathematics and Statistics Learning Centre to adhere to Brock University’s Academic Integrity Policy, Student Code of Conduct, and Human Rights and Equity Policies.

“It may be rather rare nowadays that a university room be named after a person, not in gratitude for a generous financial donation—however important these may be in the life of universities—but as a tribute to academic excellence and dedication.”
(Dr. Bernard Hodgson, October 3, 2024)

Dr. Muller on October 3, 2024 at the celebration to rename the Learning Centre after him.  (Image courtesy of Monique Muller)

In what follows, we recount some of Dr. Muller’s achievements, citing at times quotations from those who were part of the October celebration (see the article in Brock News).

Dr. Eric Muller was born in Morija (Lesotho) in 1938 and received his school education in France, Lesotho and South Africa. He studied applied mathematics at the undergraduate and master levels at the University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) and got a PhD degree in theoretical physics from the University of Sheffield (England), just before joining Brock University in 1967. At that time, Brock University was only in its third year of existence, with 11 departments and about 700 students. In the years that followed, Dr. Muller played a significant role in working with other departments toward the development and teaching of the undergraduate mathematics courses at Brock, including the Applied Calculus and the Practical Statistics service courses now serving about 3,000 students per year. Dr. Muller also worked closely with local mathematics teachers as there were nearly no opportunities at the time for professional development. His commitment to support school mathematics teachers actually led him to develop a new Concurrent Education program in which students could develop discipline knowledge and teaching skills in tandem.

Eric Muller stresses how his regular participation and contributions to national and international mathematics education congresses (CMESG, MAA, and ICME) have greatly influenced the way he has developed as a mathematics educator. For all of his outstanding contributions at Brock to mathematics teaching and learning and the development of concurrent education programs, and for his sustained dedication to the broader mathematics community, Dr. Muller received overall eight awards:

And what sums up this list of awards is the renaming of Brock’s Mathematics and Statistics Learning Centre after him, which was celebrated on October 3, 2024. In what follows, we recount some of Dr. Muller’s achievements, citing at times quotations from those who were part of the October celebration.

Professor Muller, supporting the development of a young university (Brock)

In his first 10 years at Brock University, Eric Muller contributed to the university’s development through various administrative roles. These included: creating the yearly teaching timetable for the whole university; serving on the University Senate, at a rather challenging time when there was some discussion to close the university; serving on seven Presidential committees, including the one that led to the integration of the St. Catharines Teachers’ College into Brock University; and representing the university faculty on the Brock University Board of Governors. Dr. Ian Brindle (former Dean of Brock’s Faculty of Mathematics and Science), who came to Brock nearly at the same time, recalls a discussion with Eric Muller in which the latter mentioned his teaching experience at Rhodes University (South Africa), and how the institution’s relatively small size fostered collaboration and interactions among departments and disciplines. According to Ian Brindle: “Eric Muller brought these thoughts with him, and they form the bedrock of the Leaning Centre that now carries his name.”

 Professor Muller, supporting and enriching Calculus and Statistics service courses at Brock

In 1968, after only one year at Brock, Eric Muller initiated a discussion with other departments to identify their mathematical and statistical needs. This led him to develop two service courses, one in Applied Statistics and one in Applied Calculus, whose initial enrolments of approximately 30 students reached nearly 1,200 students in 2003. Over the years, he led innovations in both course content and delivery, eventually establishing coordinated sections when the enrolment became too large for a single section while maintaining regular contact with the client departments. These two courses remained as part of his teaching focus until his retirement in 2004. One key aspect of updates to both courses involved the integration of technology. In the early 1970s, Eric Muller integrated box calculators with manual cranks, owned by the department and used by every student in the tutorial sessions of the Applied Statistics course. When similar but electrical calculators became available, he persuaded the department to purchase enough for all students to use in the tutorials. In the early 1980s, Eric Muller integrated the use of Minitab software for demonstration purposes during lectures and then eventually introduced it into the tutorial sessions when the university established computer labs. The computer algebra system, Maple, was first introduced in the Applied Calculus course for demonstration purposes, again, in the classroom, and then integrated into the tutorials in the late 1980s via computer labs as they became available. Eric Muller’s legacy in these two courses lives on with the integration of evolving technology and the continuation of regular communication with the departments that are served.

Professor Muller, developing concurrent teacher programs at Brock

In the early 1970s, Eric Muller had already started being involved in (mathematics) teacher education; indeed, he participated in the integration of the St. Catharines Teachers’ College into Brock University. Around 1990, he played a major role at Brock in initiating and developing a BSc concurrent program at the junior/intermediate (Grades 4–8) level aimed to improve the teaching of mathematics and science in elementary schools. This new program was building on an existing BA concurrent education program at the primary/junior level (Grades 1–6) since 1978. The popularity of this program greatly exceeded expectations, in spite of high admission requirements and students having to maintain high academic standards each year to remain in the program. This success led to developing further concurrent programs at the senior level (Grades 9–12), and in 2003 Eric Muller led the design of a BSc Honours concurrent program with a major in Mathematics to strengthen the teaching of mathematics in secondary school.

Overall, when the university was expanding its concurrent education programs across teaching disciplines, Eric Muller, by then cross-appointed with the Department of Pre-Service Education,  was asked to play a major role in fostering relationships between departments and different Faculties within the university: he sat on advisory committees governing the programs themselves; he attended student fairs promoting the concurrent programs; and advocated for concurrent education students to all levels of administration.

Eric Muller’s passion for mathematics and education also shone through his direct involvement with concurrent students. He was always accessible to assist them academically and to inspire them to become future educators. He was also involved in hosting events to encourage students to bond together as student educators.

Dr. Muller giving an invited lecture at the International Congress on Mathematical Education in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2004 focusing on the innovative Mathematics Integrated with Computers and Applications (MICA) and Concurrent Mathematics – Education (BSc/BEd) programs.

Professor Muller, supporting local (and provincial) school mathematics teachers and students

Supporting the professional development of mathematics teachers

In the early 1970s, Eric Muller ran a yearly get-together for regional secondary school mathematics teachers for which he organized presentations by fellow mathematicians and schoolteachers. This annual gathering eventually turned into the Golden Section, a regional group of the Ontario Association of Mathematics Educators (OAME). Until his retirement in 2004, Eric Muller remained involved in hosting at Brock University the Golden Section annual meetings. Elizabeth Patterson and Liisa Suurtamm from the OAME Golden Section write (October 3, 2024):

At a time when professional learning for educators wasn’t a board priority, Eric and [the mathematics consultants] took it upon themselves to organize and invite teachers to opportunities to collaborate and share ideas to engage students in mathematics.

Eric Muller also led the organization of the provincial OAME conference at Brock University in 1976 and was a key supporter when the provincial conference returned there in 2010. In addition, he has written many articles for the OAME’s Gazette, including a recent one in which he discussed the

real challenge for many of our students who do not find it interesting to spend so much time learning the “rigid grammar” of mathematics but would be more engaged if they could tell, read, and write stories. My view is that we are now in a much better position to balance our mathematics teaching between “grammar” and “stories.” (p. 7)¹

The OAME Golden Section (October 3, 2024) writes:

One has to wonder if Eric’s words were heard at the Ministry of Education as the recently revised 2021 Grade 9 de-streamed mathematics course now includes expectations that incorporate telling the story of mathematics.

Developing resources and activities for math school students

In the early 1970s, Eric Muller also ran Saturday morning fun mathematics workshops for Grades 6–8 students for a few years. These developed into Summer mathematics and science day camps for local students, and eventually into one-week camps where students would stay overnight on campus. While directly involved in running these camps, Eric Muller also secured funding from the MAA for a week-long Summer camp for Grades 6–8 First Nations students.

Besides the camps, Eric Muller was also dedicated to developing rich resources for teachers and their students. He recognized the challenge of educators, including himself, “to help our students learn mathematics and enable them to use it in ways that they can appreciate its value, experience its role in society and widen their employment horizon” (p. 7).² OAME Golden Section emphasizes (October 3, 2024):

Over his decades of involvement with OAME and the Golden Section, Eric was always creating opportunities to make math accessible to all students.

Some of the resources he developed included the following, which have been used first by OAME Golden Section teachers, and thereafter by other teachers across Ontario:

• Brock Bugs: A free 2-player board game to discover some early probability concepts, that also turned and expanded into an online free computer game E-Brock Bugs;
• Math Trails [soon available online]: One of Niagara Falls and one of the Welland Canal, where students can explore mathematics in these surroundings through guiding questions;
• C. Escher and Mathematics [soon available online]: When the National Gallery of Canada’s exhibition of works by M.C. Escher came to the Rodman Hall Arts Centre in St. Catharines (home of Brock University), OAME Golden Section (October 3, 2024) recalls that Eric Muller

seized this occasion to organize a Celebration of Mathematics and Visual Art. Prior to the opening of the exhibit, Eric pulled together both mathematics and visual art teachers from local school boards to create a collection of mathematics activities based around the art that would be featured in the exhibit. As educators, we often think that mathematics opportunities outside of the classroom are for the students we may label as “mathematically gifted”; this was not the case with Eric. The activities developed were meant for use with all mathematics and visual arts students, regardless of grade or their ultimate destination after high school. This booklet of activities was not only shared with school boards within the Golden Section, but Eric and his writing team also traveled to other OAME Chapters and school boards across the province to share this resource. This is just one example of Eric’s impact being far-reaching. Most people familiar with Escher’s work appreciate the impossible geometry and topology that is at its heart. At an event leading up to the exhibit opening, Eric invited Dr. David Henderson from Cornell University to visit Brock and lead local Grade 10 students on a tour of topology, challenging them to think about concepts such as what mathematics and the world would look like if we lived on a Möbius strip. Once the exhibit opened, Eric arranged to have times blocked off for students to view the exhibit. In fact, Eric was instrumental in having Escher’s son in attendance to speak with students as they toured the works. After the exhibit returned back to Ottawa, local secondary schools began offering an integrated Grade 10 mathematics and visual art course that used the work led by Eric as the foundation for its content.

Eric Muller concluded his talk to teachers about the Celebration of Mathematics and Visual Art by noting:

Like an artist brings to life dead paints and other materials through composition, a mathematics educator should bring lifeless mathematical symbols and objects to life through definitions, associations, and applications.

Dr. Muller leading a workshop for elementary school teachers from islands across the Northern Pacific on teaching Probability concepts using the Brock Bugs board game that he created. This was part of an invited scholar stay at the College of the Marshall Islands, Uliga on the Majuro Atoll.

Professor Muller, launching the Fields Math Ed Forum

Because of his many activities and involvement with local, provincial, national, and international mathematics associations, Eric Muller was invited by the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences to develop a group that would focus on mathematics education. The result was the Fields Math Ed Forum, running since 1996, that meets one Saturday each month during the academic year. The Forum may be unique in fostering a conversation among mathematics educators at all levels—namely teachers at elementary, middle, and senior schools, as well as college and university instructors. The Forum has had diverse impacts on education in Ontario; for example, in 1999 it received a contract from the provincial Ministry of Education to update the mathematics curriculum. Of particular interest to Eric Muller was a Grade 12 course on Data Management which included a major concluding project in which the Fields Institute arranged for students and their teachers to have access to Statistics Canada data. A website was established to post particularly interesting and innovative projects. Fields Deputy Director Bradd Hart, who in the early years of the Math Ed Forum co-chaired its Steering Committee with Dr. Muller, writes: “The Math Ed Forum has been one of the biggest successes for the money that Fields has” (p. 147).³

Professor Muller, contributing to and benefiting from Canadian and North American Mathematics Association: CMESG, CMS, and MAA 

Forthcoming

Professor Muller, contributing to and benefiting from the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) and its studies and congresses (ICME) 
[adapted from an ICMI Newsletter⁴]

Through his involvement in the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), in the early 1980s, Dr. Eric Muller was put in contact with various ICMI activities, and especially with the ICMI Study program launched by ICMI President Jean-Pierre Kahane and Secretary-General Geoffrey Howson. He took part in the very first ICMI Study, in 1985, whose theme was the influence of computers and informatics on mathematic and its teaching. A few years later, the theme of this ICMI Study was revisited by ICMI under the auspices of UNESCO. Dr. Bernard Hodgson, who held the position of Secretary-General of ICMI for 11 years, and Dr. Eric Muller were invited to write an overview paper about the impact of symbolic mathematical systems on mathematics education. Dr. Eric Muller contributed supporting papers to quite a few other ICMI Studies, especially in the early years of the program, including the third ICMI Study on mathematics as a service subject (1987), the eighth ICMI Study on mathematics education as a research domain (1994), and the 11th ICMI Study on the teaching and learning of mathematics at the university level (1998). He also served on the program committee for the 14th ICMI Study on applications and modelling in mathematics education (2004). In 2006, the theme of the first ICMI Study was revisited as the 17th ICMI Study, and Dr. Eric Muller contributed another supporting paper related to the integration of digital technologies in undergraduate mathematics education.

Dr. Eric Muller played important roles in the program of two ICMEs. He was one of the two organizers of a mini-conference on calculators and computers, a half-day event fully occupying the first afternoon of ICME-7 (Québec, 1992) and proposing to all participants a mixture of plenary talks, small group presentations, and workshops focusing on hands-on activities. He also was the chief organizer at ICME-8 (Sevilla, 1996) of the working group on Mathematics as a service subject at the tertiary level.

Dr. Eric Muller played many crucial roles related to ICME-7, as he was a member of three major committees of the congress: the National Committee responsible for the congress (this was a Canadian event), the Executive Committee of ICME-7, and the International Programme Committee, appointed by ICMI. But there is a very special (and somewhat behind the curtain) role that he played that ought to be mentioned, and to which Dr. Bernard Hodgson was closely connected as one of the two main local organizers of ICME-7. Dr. Hodgson tells it as follows:

A few months before the opening of the congress, Eric presented a special request to the ICME-7 Local Organizing Committee: he wanted to have an office room just for himself, close to the congress secretariat, for the full week of the congress. And when asked about the purpose of such a room, his replied was: “I want to be the troubleshooter!” 

Fixing a problem just before the opening of the ICME-7 cultural evening:
Eric R. Muller and Bernard R. Hodgson (August 22, 1992)

He explained that, based on his experience and considering the size of the congress, he knew that there would be loads of problems cropping up every day. It would be totally impossible to have a committee meeting to solve these, so that someone familiar with the whole structure of the congress should be empowered to promptly make decisions. And he added that he would be happy to do that during the whole week of the congress. 

 Which he did! The many decisions made on the spot by Eric, some possibly small but others much more significant, clearly played an essential role in the success of ICME-7.  That is Eric Muller: a practical person, a man of action, a man of conviction, a man of vision. An exceptional colleague in many ways!

 A Last Word from Brock’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics

“It is indeed selfless contributions of leaders like Dr. Eric Muller that have a marked impact on the future of scores of students and that build and grow lasting institutions.”

(Dr. Hichem Ben-El-Mechaiekh, Professor, former Department Chair and former Faculty of Mathematics and Science Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs; October 3, 2024)

 Acknowledgements: 

We wish to thank the following individuals who contributed to the content of this webpage (in alphabetical order): Ros Battye, Hichem Ben-El-Mechaiekh, Peter Berg, Ian Brindle, Chantal Buteau, Giulia Forsythe, Bernard Hodgson, Dorothy Levay, William Marshall, Elizabeth Pattison, William Ralph, and Liisa Suurtamm.

 Sources:

^{1, 2} Muller, E. (2019). Promoting mathematics—Getting involved with OAME. Ontario Mathematics Gazette, 57(3), 7–8. https://tinyurl.com/3e757t5w

³ Muller, E. (2017). The Math Ed Forum. In E. McKinnon Riehm (Ed.), The Fields Institute turns twenty-five (pp. 147–150). The Fields Institute, Toronto. http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/news/Fields-Institute-Turns-Twenty-Five-Book

⁴ Hodgson, B. & Buteau, C. (2025). Math Learning Centre named after Professor Eric R. Muller. In ICMI Newsletter, March 2025.