Dear SAMS members,
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoys the quiet hours on campus during the exam period. I have no doubt that everyone did their utmost best to finish the semester in good shape. With this in mind, I want to share what has happened with SAMS in the last couple of months.
As president of SAMS, I did some community outreach and visited several local schools here in Bloemfontein to speak with learners about fear, anxieties, and expectations when it comes to mathematics. In fact, the local radio station OFM interviewed me, and you can find the corresponding article including the full interview here:
https://www.ofm.co.za/article/centralsa/341923/ufs-professor-urges-south-africans-to-rethink-fear-of-mathematics-
Moreover, I will soon represent mathematics in South Africa at the general assembly of the International Mathematical Union (IMU). This will enable us to have a voice in the global mathematical community and also to hear about the most recent developments. The reason I mention this is that on the 2nd of June 2026, the so-called “Leiden Declaration of Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics” was published (https://leidendeclaration.ai/#declaration). This declaration actually calls for action to address the challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence within mathematics research. It has also been endorsed by the IMU (https://www.mathunion.org/imu-news/archive/2026/imu-news-137-may-2026#on-page-0). It goes without saying that this is of high importance for every researcher as well as for the South African Mathematical Society.
As the SAMS council, we are of course also looking forward to the upcoming Annual SAMS Congress that will be hosted by WITS at the beginning of December 2026. More information will follow in due course, and we are looking forward to a large number of participants.
I wish all of you a lovely and successful end to the first semester and the exams, and I also wish you strength and good luck for the second semester already.
Best wishes,
Christian