We share the grief of our partners at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), to whom Mandela remains an inspiration and a hero.
Perimeter Institute Director Neil Turok, a South Africa native whose parents were jailed alongside Mandela for their anti-apartheid efforts, reflects on Mandela:
“For me, Mr. Mandela’s greatest legacy won’t be his strength of character, or his capacity for forgiveness, or his towering intellect, or his passion for our homeland,” writes Turok in this article. “What was most striking about him was his passion for education. He said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’”
Stephen Hawking, a Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at Perimeter Institute, met with Mandela in 2008 at AIMS in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Upon hearing of Mandela's passing, Hawking reflected:
"I greatly admired Nelson Mandela for finding a peaceful solution to a situation that seemed doomed to disaster. It was one of the greatest achievements of the last hundred years."
Let us all strive to keep Mandela’s passion and positive vision alive for generations to come.
