Celia Hoyles


Dame Celia Mary Hoyles is a British mathematician, educationalist and Professor of Mathematics Education at University College London, in the Institute of Education.

Education

Hoyles was educated at the University of Manchester where she graduated with a first class degree in mathematics from the Department of Mathematics in 1967. She subsequently completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in 1971, a Master of Education degree in 1973 and a PhD in 1980, all from the University of London.

Career and research

Hoyles began her career as a secondary school teacher, later becoming an academic. In the late 1980s she was co-presenter of Fun and Games, a prime time television quiz show about mathematics.
With Arthur Bakker, Phillip Kent, and Richard B. Noss she is the co-author of Improving Mathematics at Work: The Need for Techno-Mathematical Literacies.
Hoyles served as president of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications from 2014 to 2015. She served as chief adviser for mathematics to the government of the United Kingdom from 2004 to 2007 and as director of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics from 2007 to 2013.

Awards and honours

In the 2004 New Year Honours, Hoyles was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire 'for services to education'. In the 2014 New Year Honours, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her service as director of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
In 2003, she was awarded the first Hans Freudenthal Medal by the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction in recognition of 'the outstanding contribution that has made to research in the domain of technology and mathematics education'. In 2010, she was awarded the first Kavli Education Medal by the Royal Society 'in recognition of her outstanding contribution to research in mathematics education'.
Hoyles has honorary degrees from the Open University, Loughborough University, Sheffield Hallam University and University of Bath.