The IMA Leslie Fox Prize for Numerical Analysis is a biennial prize established in 1985 by the IMA in honour of mathematician Leslie Fox (1918-1992).

Leslie Fox founded the Oxford University Computing Laboratory in 1957 and was the Professor of Numerical Analysis at Oxford from 1963 to 1983. He was a distinguished researcher in numerical linear algebra and differential equations and was an active member of the IMA from its beginnings. More information about him can be found in the references below.

  • Leslie Fox at the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.
  • Leslie Fox at Wikipedia.
  • Leslie Fox at the Mathematics_Genealogy_Project (note that the details there are incomplete).
  • Obituary by C. Clenshaw in The Independent (1992).
  • Booklet (Oxford University Computing Laboratory, 1994, 77 pages) titled Leslie Fox 1918-1992 containing two Addresses given at Memorial Service and biographical and other information.

The prize honours “young numerical analysts worldwide” (any person who is less than 31 years old – Appropriate career breaks for applicants over the age of 31 may be taken account of). This year’s IMA Leslie Fox event will be delivered in partnership with The Alan Turing Institute.

Following the call for papers, submissions are reviewed by the Committee who then invite shortlisted candidates to give lectures at the IMA Leslie Fox Prize meeting. First Prize and Second Prizes are awarded based on “mathematical and algorithmic brilliance in tandem with presentational skills.”

The Prize is financially underwritten by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) and administered by the Board of the IMA Journal of Numerical Analysis who appoint the Adjudicating Committee. The organization of each meeting from the call for entries, choice of date and venue, and the adjudication of the prize, is in the hands of the Adjudicating Committee.

The funding for the prize has been obtained by private donations but the interest from the prize fund, particularly with current rates, comes nowhere near covering the cost of the prizes. In view of the close relationship of the Prize to IMAJNA, the IMA has agreed to underwrite the Prize but it is still important for us to build the fund to a self-sustaining level.

Further donations to the Prize Fund are hereby solicited. Donations, with a completed IMA Leslie Fox Prize Donation Form, and related correspondence, should be sent to the address on the form. For UK tax payers, a Gift Aid Declaration is available.

See also advice for UK tax payers on the benefits of making a donation with Gift Aid.

Twenty-first IMA Leslie Fox Prize

The 21st IMA Leslie Fox Prize was awarded following the Prize Event, which took place on Monday 26th June 2023 at the University of Strathclyde in conjunction with the Alan Turing Institute.

First Prizes

  • Alice Cortinovis (Stanford)
  • Melanie Weber (Harvard)

Second Prizes

  • Matthew Colbrook (Cambridge)
  • Matteo Croci (University of Texas at Austin)
  • Ioannis Papadopoulos (Imperial)
  • Shanyin Tong (Columbia)

 

Previous IMA Leslie Fox Prize for Numerical Analysis Winners

 

Twentieth IMA Leslie Fox Prize

The 20th IMA Leslie Fox Prize was awarded following the Prize Event, which took place on June 21st 2021 via Zoom.

First Prize

  • Lindon Roberts (Australian National University)

Second Prizes

  • Nicolas Boulle (University of Oxford)
  • Derek Driggs (University of Cambridge)
  • Theo Mary (Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique)
  • Barbara Verfurth (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

Nineteenth IMA Leslie Fox Prize

The 19th IMA Leslie Fox Prize was awarded on June 24, 2019, at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, just prior to the 28th Biennial Conference on Numerical Analysis.

First Prize

  • Yunan Yang (New York University)

Second Prizes

  • Daniel Fortunato (Harvard)
  • Alexander James Bastounis (Cambridge)
  • Simone Brugiapaglia (Simon Fraser)
  • Abdul-Lateef Haji-Ali (Heriot Watt)

Report from Mathematics Today

Eighteenth IMA Leslie Fox Prize

First Prize

  • Nicole Spillane (Ecole Polytechnique)

Second Prizes

  • Mario Berljafa (KU Leuven)
  • Evan Gawlik (University of California, San Diego)
  • Robert Gower (Ecole Normale Superieure)
  • Lise-Marie Imbert-Gerard (New York University)
  • Aretha Teckentrup (University of Edinburgh)

Report from Mathematics Today

Seventeenth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. University of Strathclyde,  22 June, 2015.

First Prizes

  • Iain Smears (University of Oxford) &
  • Alex Townsend (MIT).

Second Prizes

  • Patrick Farrell (University of Oxford),
  • Olivier Fercoq (Telecom ParisTech),
  • John Pearson (University of Kent) &
  • Clarice Poon (Cambridge University)

Report from Mathematics Today

Sixteenth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. ICMS Edinburgh 24 June, 2013.

First Prize:

  • Michael Neilan (University of Pittsburgh).

Second Prize:

  • Ingrid von Glehn (University of Oxford).
  • Georges Klein (University of Fribourg).
  • Martin Takáč (University of Edinburgh).
  • Alex Townsend (University of Oxford).
  • Andre Uschmajew (Technische Universität Berlin).

Report from Mathematics Today

Fifteenth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Manchester 27 June, 2011.

First Prize:

  • Yuji Nakatsukasa (University of California, Davis).

Second Prize:

  • Ben Adcock (Simon Fraser University)
  • Arnulf Jentzen (Princeton University)
  • Richard Norton (University of Oxford)
  • Bart Vandereycken (ETH)
  • Konstantinos Zygalakis (University of Oxford)

Report from Mathematics Today

Fourteenth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Warwick 29 June, 2009.

First Prize:

  • Brian Sutton (Randolph-Macon College)

Second Prize:

  • Stefano Giani (Nottingham University)
  • Daan Huybrechs (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)
  • Armin Lechleiter (CMAPX, Polytechnique)
  • Colin B. Macdonald (Mathematics, UCLA)
  • Liuqiang Zhong (Xiangtan University)

Report from Mathematics Today

Thirteenth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Oxford 22 June, 2007.

First Prize:

  • Ioana Dumitriu (University of Washington)
  • Yoichiro Mori (University of British Columbia)

Second Prize:

  • Timo Betcke (University of Macnchester)
  • Laurent Demanet (Stanford University)
  • Daniel Kressner (University of Zagreb)
  • Emre Mengi (UC San Diego)
  • Sheehan Olver (University of Cambridge)

Report from Mathematics Today

Twelfth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Dundee 27 June, 2005.

First Prize:

  • Roland Opfer (Universität Göttingen)
  • Paul Tupper (McGill University)

Second Prize:

  • Lehel Banjai (MPI, Leipzig)
  • Coralia Cartis (University of Oxford)
  • Johan Hoffman (Chalmers University)
  • Fabio Nobile (Politecnico di Milano)
  • Adam Oberman (Simon Fraser University)

Report from Mathematics Today

Eleventh Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Cambridge 20 June, 2003.

First Prize:

  • Jared Tanner (University of California at Davis)

Second Prize:

  • Melvin Leok (California Institute of Technology)
  • Adam Oberman (University of Texas)
  • Marc Schweitzer (Universität Bonn)
  • Tatjana Stykel (University of Calgary)
  • Boris Vexler (Universität Heidelberg)

Report from Mathematics Today

Tenth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Oxford 22 June, 2001.

First Prize:

  • Anna-Karin Tornberg (KTH Stockholm)

Second Prize:

  • Tilo Arens (Brunel University)
  • Begona Cano (University of Valladolid)
  • Eric Darve (Stanford University)
  • Jing-Rebecca Li (Courant Institute NYU)
  • Dominik Schötzau (University of Minnesota)
  • Divakar Viswanath (University of Chicago)

Report from Mathematics Today 

Ninth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Dundee 28 June, 1999.

First Prize:

  • Niles Pierce (Caltech)
  • Reha Tütüncü (Carnegie-Mellon)

Second Prize:

  • Aurelian Bejancu (Cambridge)
  • Vincent Heuveline (Heidelberg)
  • Paul Houston (Oxford)
  • Ross Lippert (Sandia National Laboratories)

Report from Mathematics Today 

Eighth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Dundee 23 June, 1997.

First Prize:

  • W. Sweldens (Bell Labs)

Second Prize:

  • T.A. Driscoll (Boulder)
  • V. Simoncini (Pavia)
  • E. de Sturler (Zurich)
  • R.H. Tütüncü (Carnegie-Mellon)
  • A. Zanna (Cambridge)
  • T. Zhang (Stanford)

Report from Mathematics Today 

Seventh Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Dundee 26 June, 1995.

First Prize:

  • A. Hill (Bath)

Second Prize:

  • X-W. Chang (McGill)
  • L. Jay (Minnesota)
  • Y. Liu (Cambridge)
  • K-C. Toh (Cornell)
  • D. Wang (Purdue)

Sixth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Oxford 24 June, 1993.

First Prize:

  • Y. Li (Cornell)

Second Prize:

  • A. Edelman (Berkeley)
  • D.J. Higham (Dundee)
  • Z. Jia (Bielefeld)
  • P. Lin (Oxford)
  • R. Mathias (Minneapolis)

Report from Mathematics Today 

Fifth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Dundee 24 June, 1991.

First Prize:

  • C.J. Budd (Bristol)
  • J.F.B.M. Kraaijevanger (Leiden)

Second Prize:

  • J. Levesley (Coventry)
  • P.D. Loach (Bristol)
  • B.F. Smith (Argonne)
  • H. Zha (Stanford)

Report from Mathematics Today

Fourth Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Cambridge 4 September, 1989.

First Prize:

  • M. Buhmann (Cambridge)
  • B.R.L. DeMoor (Stanford)
  • A.M. Stuart (Bath)

Second Prize:

  • M. Ainsworth (Durham)
  • R.H. Chan (Hong Kong)
  • A. Edelman (MIT)
  • D.J. Higham (Toronto)

Report from Mathematics Today

Third Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Imperial College. 28 March, 1988.

First Prize:

  • N.J. Higham (Manchester)

Second Prize:

  • T. Hagstrom (SUNY, Stony Brook)
  • P.T. Harker (Univ of Pennsylvania)
  • I.R.H. Jackson (Cambridge)
  • T. Tang (Leeds)

Report from Mathematics Today

Second Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Imperial College. 5 September, 1986.

First Prize:

  • J.W. Demmel (Courant)
  • N.I.M. Gould (Harwell)

Second Prize:

  • J.L. Barlow (Penn State)
  • J. Scott (Oxford)
  • A.J. Wathen (Bristol)

Report from Mathematics Today

First Leslie Fox Prize Meeting. Imperial College. 30 August, 1985.

First Prize:

  • L.N. Trefethen (MIT)

Second Prize:

  • N.J. Higham (Manchester)
  • S.P.J. Matthews (Dundee)
  • P.K. Sweby (Reading)
  • Y. Yuan (Cambridge)

Report from Mathematics Today


Chairpersons of adjudicating committee

  • First: Mike Powell
  • Second: Ron Mitchell
  • Third: John Reid
  • Fourth: Bill Morton
  • Fifth: John Mason
  • Sixth: Nancy Nichols
  • Seventh: Charlie Elliott
  • Eighth: Christopher Baker
  • Ninth: Iain Duff
  • Tenth: Nick Trefethen
  • Eleventh: Arieh Iserles
  • Twelfth: Alastair Spence
  • Thirteenth: Endre Süli
  • Fourteenth: Andrew Stuart
  • Fifteenth: Nick Higham
  • Sixteenth: Mark Ainsworth
  • Seventeenth: Nick Gould
  • Eighteenth Andy Wathen
  • Nineteenth Benedict Leimkuhler