George Bluman was born in Vancouver in 1943, and completed his Bachelor of Science at UBC in 1964 with an honours degree in Physics and Mathematics. After finishing his PhD in Applied Science at Caltech, he joined the UBC Math Department in 1968 and worked as a professor until his retirement in 2014. During this time, Bluman served as the first undergraduate chair in Mathematics, the Head of Mathematics for five years, the co-founder of the Institute of Applied Mathematics, and a member of various UBC committees and task forces for admissions and recruitment. His mathematics research interests include symmetries and differential equations, and he has authored and co-authored numerous papers and books on these subjects, including Similarity Methods for Differential Equations (1974) and Symmetries and Differential Equations (1989).

Bluman has taken an interest in math education and readiness in secondary schools throughout his career, publishing studies and reports on mathematics competency in B.C. school systems, holding local workshops, and organizing aspects of the Euclid Mathematics Contest. In addition to this work, he has also served in various capacities for the Canadian Mathematics Society, including as Chairman of the Education Committee and a member of the Board of Directors. In 2001, he was the recipient of the Society’s Adrien Pouliot Award for his leadership and educational advocacy. He is currently Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics.