Cundy, Henry Martyn 1913-2005

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born December 23, 1913, in Derby, England; died February 25, 2005, in Kendal, England. Mathematician, educator, and author. Cundy was a highly respected mathematician who, instead of focusing on theoretical math as many expected him to do, became a teacher and helped reform the educational systems in both England and Malawi. A student at Trinity College, Cambridge, he completed his undergraduate degree in 1935, followed by a master's degree and doctorate earned concurrently in 1938. The son of a priest, Cundy took courses in divinity, as well as classical languages. Instead of becoming a researcher in mathematics after graduating, he decided he wanted to teach, taking a job as assistant master at the Sherborne School in Dorset, England, in 1938. He remained there through the mid-1960s, becoming head of the mathematics department in 1958. Cundy made his mark in his field with Mathematical Models, written with A. P. Rollett and published in 1951, with a second edition in 1961; the book is still considered a classic math text. In 1961, he also became a cofounder of the School Mathematics Project (SMP), a nonprofit organization whose goal was to reform the way math was taught in schools. Cundy also mixed his interest in math with his Christian faith, becoming a Methodist lay preacher. His first book, in fact, was not a math text but rather a religious work titled The Faith of a Christian (1945). As the SMP became an international nonprofit organization by the late 1960s, his work with the group led him to accept a job as professor and chair of mathematics at the University of Malawi, where he also became an elder in the Presbyterian Church. Cundy left Malawi in 1975 to return to England, and that year published Zomba Mountain: A Walker's Guide with his wife, K. E. Cundy. Two years later, after working briefly in the Caribbean for the British Council, he released The Caribbean Mathematics Project: Training the Teacher as the Agent of Reform: Study Prepared for the International Educational Reporting Service. Cundy's last years were spent in semi-retirement in Kendal, England, where he remained active in his church.

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Independent (London, England), March 8, 2005, p. 33. Times (London, England), March 25, 2005, p. 68.