We were privileged to welcome back OS Dr Greg Taujanskas (RPH 09-11) and his partner Amelia to the College this week. Hosted during his visit by Senior School Mathematics Teacher, Fiona Freckleton, Greg enjoyed a campus tour and visit to RPH before sharing his extensive mathematical expertise with Sixth Form Further Mathematicians.

Enjoying his first visit back to RPH since it was rebuilt after the devastating 2015 fire, Greg was thrilled to see the House beautifully restored, with photographs of his year group still proudly displayed on the walls and was just a bit envious that all boarders now enjoy en-suite facilities.

A brief opportunity to chat to RPH Housemaster, Richard Honey was a highlight of Greg’s return to his RPH roots.

Recently appointed as a Mathematics Fellow at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge, Greg was hugely generous with his time and expertise delivering two sessions with our sixth form further mathematicians. Following lunch in the dining hall, the first session, a problem solving workshop with twenty L6th students helped them to navigate some challenging mathematical situations, while encouraging them to use their own ideas to reach a solution.

Following on with a session with a small group of U6th, Greg delivered a sample lecture ‘Evaluating the zeta function for even positive integers’. Providing a valuable insight into university style learning and a glimpse of some areas that mathematicians have been pondering for almost 300 years but still encounter many unsolved problems. This was an obviously academically challenging session but it was amazing that with careful guidance from Greg, so much of the content could be appreciated with a knowledge of A- Level Further Maths.

Fiona enthuses that, as she anticipated from her experience of teaching Greg at the College, he delivered the mathematical content with patience and enthusiasm and was a great inspiration to the lucky students who attended these sessions. An outstanding Old Stortfordian role model, we are hugely grateful to Greg for leaving such a positive lasting impression on our further mathematicians whom had the great opportunity to learn from him during his visit.

Our warmest thanks are extended to both Greg and Amelia for being so generous with their time and sharing of expertise during their visit. We wish them both every success in their careers at the University of Cambridge and hope that they are able to visit the campus again in the not too distant future.