The G. S. Watson Annual Lecture
Geoffrey S. Watson
In 1999, the then Department of Mathematics at La Trobe University, Bendigo established an annual lecture in memory of Professor Geoffrey S. Watson (1921-1998).
Professor Watson was born in Bendigo, educated at Bendigo High School and took his first degree at the University of Melbourne. Professor Watson went on to a distinguished career in the mathematical sciences. He held positions at University of Melbourne, University of Cambridge, ANU, University of Toronto, Johns Hopkins University and eventually he was Professor and Head of Department of Statistics at Princeton University.
Professor Watson was always keen to be involved in applications of mathematics to many different areas and his own work reflects this interest. Also, he was keen to spread his own enthusiasm for mathematics and especially its applications in science. He once wrote "I regard myself as an applied mathematician. I have always spent more time reading science than mathematics."
Perhaps his name is best known through its association with the Durbin-Watson statistic which is very important in many branches of statistics, especially in economics and econometrics.
His work has had a great impact on various aspects of science as well as economics.
Throughout his life, Professor Watson regarded his home town with deep affection and, from time to time, visited Bendigo and wrote to the Bendigo Advertiser trying to contact colleagues from school days.
Hence the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at La Trobe University, Bendigo offers an annual lecture in mathematics in memory of Professor Watson. The lecture is an occasion for an invited speaker to address an audience on a suitable mathematical topic of broad interest.
Presenters of the G. S. Watson Annual Lecture
2009: Dr Rebecca Kippen, Australian National University. Title: "Do Australian parents want both a son and a daughter?"
2008: Emeritus Professor Neville de Mestre, Bond University. Title: "Some Mathematical Connections with Sport"
2007: Dr Bob Anderssen, CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences. Title: "Modelling Pattern Formation in Plants"
2006: Associate Professor Natashia Boland, The University of Melbourne. Title: "Applications and Techniques in Discrete Optimisation"
2005: Professor Annette Dobson, The University of Queensland. Title: "Methodological Challenges from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health"
2004: Professor Nick Trefethen, University of Oxford. Title: "Polynomial interpolation is much better than you think"
2003: Professor Fima Klebaner, Monash University. Title: "Mathematics of Options"
2002: Professor Lynn Batten, Deakin University. Title: "Tales of Decrypt"
2001: Associate Professor Doug M. Clarke, Director, Mathematics Teaching and Learning Centre, Australian Catholic University. Title: "Developing young children as mathematical thinkers in P-4: Exciting approaches from the Early Numeracy Research Project"
2000: Professor Terry P. Speed, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, and University of California, Berkeley. Title: "Mathematics Meets Molecular Biology"
1999: Professor Ruth J. Williams, University of California, San Diego. Title: "From Queueing Networks to Reflecting Diffusions"