Anne Cockroft studied mathematics at Nottingham University, and stayed on there to do a PhD in quantum mechanics. She was not persuaded by her three years of post-doc research at Dundee University that that was the way she wanted her career to go. Instead, she became a lecturer in Operational Research and Statistics at Napier College, now Edinburgh Napier University, moving briefly to Nottingham Trent University before settling in at what became the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley. Here she taught degree courses in Mathematical Sciences and Business Analysis as well a variety of service courses.

One day when Anne’s daughter, Erica, was in P6, she brought home the Maths Challenge problems. Erica and her brother, Mark, would go on to tackle these and other national challenges right through to S6. Meanwhile, Anne’s colleague, Elizabeth West, noticed Anne’s enthusiasm for what her children were doing and so she persuaded her to help informally with Section 5.

Anne joined the Maths Challenge Committee in 2002 and took over as Regional Organiser for Section 5 a year later. During this time she worked with Mark to create the marks website which is still in use today. Anne continued as Regional Organiser until just before her retirement in 2009, also serving as secretary of the Maths Challenge Committee from 2014 to 2018. She remains a key member of the National Committee to this day, a quarter of a century after her first involvement with the competition.

Throughout the years of Anne’s involvement with Maths Challenge, Bill Richardson has been the National Organiser, and he comments that Anne is not the sort of committee member who simply attends meetings. She has always had a particular interest in the wording of questions and very often invents alternative solutions which are of great benefit to the marking teams. Anne herself believes that the key to setting Challenge problems is a surprise – an interesting context, a particular way of looking at a problem which makes it easier, a seeming lack of information, or an unexpected answer.

And with Mathematical Challenge in its Golden Jubilee Year, and was perfectly fitting that Bill be on hand to present the Scottish Mathematical Council Achievement Award for 2026 to someone who has served this national competition with such dedication and flair for half its lifetime.