CHRISTOPHER BROWN Proxime Accessit
One of the biggest successes in the College career of 2016 Runner-up to Dux Christopher Brown was winning a gold medal in the New Zealand Mathematics Olympiad, which made him one of the top 30 student mathematicians in the country.
Another highlight was representing New Zealand at the 2015 International Olympiad in Informatics in Kazakhstan, where he gained a bronze medal, making him one of the the best young computer scientists in the world. Christopher says his father stimulated his interest in computing. “I have been messing around with computer operating systems for a long time, trying to make them run properly. I have also enjoyed reading maths books, including Ian Stewart, who has three interesting collections of maths problems.’’ Housemaster Ben Vink says Christopher is an extremely diligent student who has a great sense of justice and always stands up for what he believes in. His personality has made him an influential member of his year group and the wider school community. “Throughout 2016, Christopher was an academic role model both formally and informally. He was regarded as one of the top academic students that College has had in recent years. He has always worked closely with his teachers to draw on what they know and what they could help him with specifically. I like the fact that he is ambitious,’’ says Ben. Christopher is also a keen biologist and is interested in a future career combining the three subjects he most enjoys – computing, mathematics and biology.
“I am thinking about a triple major at the University of Canterbury,’’ he says. “I am interested in the idea that you can apply both biology and computing to complex problems.’’
College Issue 32 2017
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