The London Mathematical Society (LMS) has announced the appointment of a new Executive Secretary. Caroline Wallace will take up her new post as LMS Executive Secretary on 6 April 2020.
During the early part of her career Caroline worked in high tech industry in Cambridge, during which time she became a Chartered Engineer and worked in R&D, telecommunications and technology consultancy. She moved into the public sector as Chief Engineering Advisor at the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) in London, which then merged with other regulators to become Ofcom. She became a Director of Competition Policy at Ofcom and from there, an Inquiry Director at the Competition Commission where she led teams that investigated mergers and markets to make sure that they did not harm competition. Caroline is currently the Strategy Director at the Legal Services Board, the oversight regulator for lawyers in England and Wales. In this role Caroline has led a team of policy and communications professionals to develop and implement the organisation's strategy, including ensuring the quality of legal services, protecting consumers and promoting access to justice.
Caroline commented; ‘I have always enjoyed mathematics, and this was one of the main reasons I chose to study engineering at university. In the early part of my career, my work frequently involved the application of mathematics in industrial settings. For example, I used statistical experimental design in R&D and I optimised telecoms network capacity based on Erlang queuing calculations. But familiarity with mathematical concepts and an ability to understand and challenge numerical evidence have been useful throughout my career. My appreciation of the value of mathematics and my hope that I can help promote mathematics to others mean that I am delighted to be joining the London Mathematical Society’.
LMS President, Jon Keating, said; 'We are extremely grateful to Fiona Nixon for her outstanding service to the Society over many years, and delighted to have a person of Caroline Wallace's experience and ability to take over from her and to help take the Society forward at what is an important time for mathematics'.
Caroline will take over as Executive Secretary of LMS from Fiona Nixon, who retires on 9 April.