Helen Mary Wily (née Harrison, 27 April 1921 – 12 September 2009) was a New Zealand statistician and mathematician. With Sharleen Forbes she ran the first session on gender issues in statistics education, at the third International Conference on Teaching Statistics held in 1990 at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

. She was a strong advocate of equal pay issues in the public service. She was very involved with the Christchurch branch of the New Zealand Federation of Graduate Women. In the

1988 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1988 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

, Wily was awarded the

Queen's Service Medal The Queen's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to ...

for public services.

Academic career

Wily taught mathematics at

Rangi Ruru Girls' School Rangi Ruru Girls' School is a New Zealand private girls' day and boarding secondary school located in Merivale, an inner suburb of Christchurch. The school is affiliated to the Presbyterian Church, and serves approximately girls from Years 7 ...

then for ten years she trained students in teaching mathematics at

Christchurch College of Education Christchurch College of Education (CCE) was an educational institute based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1877, and ceased operation in 2007 when it was merged with the University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ...

, then later moved to the

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology The Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT), formerly the Christchurch Technical College, was an institute of technology in Christchurch, New Zealand. It merged with Aoraki Polytechnic and became Ara Institute of Canterbury in 2 ...

Selected works

Wily published several works on women in mathematics.

References

1921 births 2009 deaths New Zealand women academics New Zealand women mathematicians Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal {{NewZealand-academic-bio-stub