REMEMBERING FRANK BUDDEN LOUISE PIFFERO

REMEMBERING FRANK BUDDEN

BY LOUISE PIFFERO ARCHIVIST

Frank J Budden (Staff 62-80) clearly had a huge impact on the teaching of mathematics and wider school life during his 23 years of service at RGS. He joined us in 1959 before making Head of Department three years later. His valete for The Novocastrian noted his dedication, integrity, and absolute enthusiasm for mathematics.

Budden studied Mathematics at Kings College, London, graduating in 1939. His talent was already evident then and he was awarded the Lubbock Memorial Prize. After serving during the Second World War he became a teacher. His first role was teaching maths and music at Ripon Grammar School (47-49).

Maths became a popular subject at RGS under Budden’s leadership, with high numbers taking it at O Level. His reputation in the field extended much further than our walls as Budden was a member of Council of the Mathematics Association during his time teaching. He led the British team in the International Mathematical Olympiad, both in 1971 and 1973 – nine of our RGS students competed in the IMO over the years. He published a number of books, including An Introduction to Algebraic Structures (1975). Budden himself presented a copy to the RGS Library and it is now preserved in our Archive.

Not only was he an exceptional mathematician, he was an incredibly talented musician yet with no formal training. A choir leader, conductor and instrumentalist, he was involved in music at all of the schools he taught at, including RGS. Here he led the madrigal choir and a small orchestral choir.

After retiring, he became President of the Mathematics Association in 1982.

Readers can find out more about the life and work of Frank Budden in a forthcoming article by Tony Gardiner and Chris Tew to be published in The Mathematical Gazette in 2023.

References:

‘Valete: Mr. F.J. Budden’, The Novocastrian, Volume 87, Issue 3 (1980), pp. 3-4. Available online at: https://bit.ly/RGSFrankBudden