Eric joined Brock University in 1967, after having completed a PhD in Theoretical Physics at the University of Sheffield (England). At that time, Brock University was barely three years old, enrolling about seven hundred students across eleven departments. Over a thirty-seven-year career, Eric left his mark as an institutional builder, a mentor to generations of colleagues, and an inspiring educator. He played a significant leadership role for the development and the delivery of undergraduate mathematics courses across faculties. These courses include large service courses such as Calculus with Applications<\/em> and Practical Statistics<\/em> annually serving some 3,000 students from all faculties. A determined enabler of the meaningful integration of digital technology in mathematics education, Eric played a leading role (together with Prof. Bill Ralph) in the department\u2019s development of an innovative program, launched in 2000, known as the Mathematics Integrated with Computers and Applications <\/em>(MICA)[1]<\/a>,[2]<\/a> program. While at Brock, Eric brought people together and radiated wisdom and benevolence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The impact of Eric\u2019s contributions went well beyond the walls of Brock University. He was the instigator of the conception and development of two math trails, proposing pupils and students a visit, with a mathematical eye, of the Welland Canal and of the Niagara Falls. He was also the instigator of a mathematics and visual arts celebration, when the National Gallery of Canada\u2019s exhibition of works by M.C. Escher came to St. Catharines (home city of Brock) in 1997. Throughout his career, he engaged wholeheartedly with local mathematics teachers (from all levels) in order to provide them with sustained opportunities for professional development, at times when there were virtually none. His commitment to support school mathematics teachers actually led him to develop a new concurrent education program at Brock in which students could acquire discipline knowledge and teaching skills in tandem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n True to his commitment to mathematics education across Canada, Eric was a long-time member and contributor to the activities of the Canadian Mathematical Society. He served as Chair of the CMS Education Committee<\/em> from 1992 to 1997, and was notably the coordinator of the activities in Canada connected with the World Mathematical Year 2000, launched by the International Mathematical Union and held under the auspices of UNESCO. He played a crucial role in the local organization of the 1992 International Congress on Mathematical Education<\/em> (ICME-7) at the Universit\u00e9 Laval, serving as a member of the Canadian National Committee in charge of ICME-7, a member of its Executive Committee, as well as a member of the International Program Committee. He was also intensively active daily during this congress in bringing to the Local Organizing Committee a specific and crucial support of \u201ctroubleshooter\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He belongs to the early cohort of mathematicians regularly involved in the activities of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), launched in 1977. Besides serving for three terms on the CMESG Executive, including five years as the coordinator of the annual conference program, he was involved numerous times as a presenter or working group organizer at these annual conferences. On the North American scene, he was also engaged in various activities of the Mathematical Association of America, including a three-year term on the MAA Board of Governors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Around the same time and because of his many connections and activities with local, provincial, national, and international associations involved in mathematics education, Eric was invited by the Fields Institute to develop (with Bradd Hart) a group that would focus on mathematics education and resulted in the Fields MathEd Forum<\/a>, meeting one Saturday a month during each academic year since 1997. Eric stresses how his regular participation and contributions to national and international mathematics education congresses (<\/a>CMESG<\/a>, MAA<\/a> and ICME<\/a>) have greatly influenced the way he has developed as a mathematics educator.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Eric Muller Mathematics and Statistics Learning Centre<\/em> saw the light of day as the Mathematics Help Centre<\/em> in early 2004, with conception period starting in August of 2003. The year 2003-04 was Eric\u2019s last year as a regular faculty member at Brock University. The Centre owes much to Eric. Not only because of his direct involvement in its creation, but also in connection with Eric\u2019s life-long passion and dedication to supporting students\u2019 success, to making Mathematics more accessible, and to promoting more effective mathematics teaching and learning for students of all ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The renaming of the centre after Eric is a tangible, permanent mark of departmental reverence to his contributions. Eric stands as an exceptional example of a mathematician belonging to a math department, a mathematician seriously and sincerely interested in matters pertaining to the teaching and learning of mathematics, skillfully and passionately devoting time and energy to this endeavour. Truly, it is selfless contributions of leaders like Eric that have a marked impact on the lives of scores of students and that build and grow lasting institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Articles about Eric\u2019s contributions to various associations include: the ICMI Newsletter<\/a>, the Fields Institute Events (Newsletter)<\/a>, the MAA Seaway Current<\/a> and the CMESG Newsletter<\/a>. For more details about Eric\u2019s contributions that led to this outstanding honour, see here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [1]<\/a> Ben-El-Mechaiekh, H., Buteau, C., & Ralph, W. (2007). MICA: a novel direction in undergraduate mathematics teaching<\/a>. Canadian Mathematics Society Notes, 39<\/em>(6), 9\u201311.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/a> https:\/\/ctuniversitymath.ca\/mica-then-now\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"template":"","section":[116],"keyword":[],"class_list":["post-21142","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","section-announcement"],"toolset-meta":{"author-4-info":{"author-4-surname":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"author-4-given-names":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"author-4-honorific":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"author-4-institution":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"author-4-email":{"type":"email","raw":""},"author-4-cms-role":{"type":"textfield","raw":""}},"author-3-info":{"author-3-surname":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Hodgson"},"author-3-given-names":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Bernard R."},"author-3-honorific":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"author-3-institution":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Universit\u00e9 Laval"},"author-3-email":{"type":"email","raw":""},"author-3-cms-role":{"type":"textfield","raw":""}},"author-2-info":{"author-2-surname":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Buteau"},"author-2-given-names":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Chantal"},"author-2-honorific":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"author-2-institution":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Brock University"},"author-2-email":{"type":"email","raw":""},"author-2-cms-role":{"type":"textfield","raw":""}},"author-info":{"author-surname":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Bel-El-Mechaiekh"},"author-given-names":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Hichem"},"author-honorific":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"author-email":{"type":"email","raw":""},"author-institution":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Brock University"},"author-cms-role":{"type":"textfield","raw":""}},"unknown":{"downloadable-pdf":{"type":"file","raw":"","attachment_id":null},"article-toc-weight":{"type":"numeric","raw":"31"},"author-surname":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Bel-El-Mechaiekh"},"author-given-names":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Hichem"}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mathmatters.cms.math.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/21142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mathmatters.cms.math.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mathmatters.cms.math.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mathmatters.cms.math.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mathmatters.cms.math.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/21142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21225,"href":"https:\/\/mathmatters.cms.math.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/21142\/revisions\/21225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mathmatters.cms.math.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mathmatters.cms.math.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=21142"},{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mathmatters.cms.math.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=21142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mathmatters.cms.math.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Picture1.jpg\")
of the Math Learning Center (October 3, 2024, courtesy of Monique Muller)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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