{{short description|Australian mathematician and educator (1943–1997)}} {{for|the murder victim|St Andrew's Church, Fulham}} {{Infobox scientist | name = David Paget | image = | caption = | alt = | birth_name = David Frederick Paget | birth_date = {{Birth date|1943|2|9|df=y}} | birth_place = Twickenham, London, United Kingdom | death_date = {{death date and age|1997|11|30|1943|2|9|df=y}} | death_place = | citizenship = | fields = Mathematics and education | workplaces = {{Unbulleted list | University of Tasmania }} | alma_mater = University of Tasmania | doctoral_advisor = David Elliott | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = {{Unbulleted list | Mathematics education }} | awards = {{Unbulleted list | BH Neumann Award (1997) }} | signature = }} '''David Frederick Paget''' (February 9, 1943 – November 30, 1997<ref>{{cite web |title=St Aidan's Columbarium |url=https://anglicantas.org.au/interment_areas/st-aidans-columbarium-2/ |publisher=Anglican Diocese of Tasmania |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref>) was an Australian mathematician.

Paget was born in Twickenham and attended Southampton University, where he studied mathematics and played rugby.<ref name=AMT>{{cite web |title=Dr David Frederick Paget (1943-1997) |url=https://sites.google.com/site/pjt154/home/a4-life-tributes/paget-df |publisher=Australian Mathematics Trust |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref> He emigrated, first to New Zealand and then to Tasmania.

Paget received his PhD from the University of Tasmania, writing his thesis on product integration under the supervision of David Elliott.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Paget |first1=David Frederick |title=Generalised product integration |journal=Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society |date=1977 |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=475–477 |doi=10.1017/S0004972700023546 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-australian-mathematical-society/article/generalised-product-integration/7BABD93A95102290BA916EC72BDB4296 |access-date=7 March 2026|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Donaldson |first1=John D. |author1-link=John Dalgleish Donaldson |title=Preface to this Issue |journal=The ANZIAM Journal |date=2000 |volume=42 |issue=1 |page=2 |doi=10.1017/S1446181100011548 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/89FA9C1CA9E5CB9CB3EADB665C9DC581/S1446181100011548a.pdf/preface-to-this-issue.pdf |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref> He became a senior lecturer at the University of Tasmania.<ref name=AMS>{{cite journal |title=News |journal=Gazette of the Australian Mathematical Society |date=2009 |page=64 |url=https://www.austms.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Gazette/2009/Mar09/News.pdf |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref>

As a mathematician, Paget was interested in the numerical analysis and approximation theory.<ref name=AMT /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Paget |first1=D. F. |last2=Elliott|first2=David|title=An algorithm for the numerical evaluation of certain Cauchy principal value integrals |journal=Numerische Mathematik |date=1972 |volume=19 |issue=5 |pages=373–385 |doi=10.1007/BF01404920 |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1007/BF01404920|access-date=7 March 2026|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Paget |first1=D. F. |title=The numerical evaluation of Hadamard finite-part integrals |journal=Numerische Mathematik |date=1981 |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=447–453 |doi=10.1007/BF01395957 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01395957 |access-date=7 March 2026|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=William E. |last2=Paget|first2=David|title=Optimal Nodes for Interpolatory Product Integration |journal=SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis |date=1992 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=586–600 |doi=10.1137/0729038 |jstor=2158145 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2158145 |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=B. M. |last2=Elliott|first2=D.|last3=Paget|first3=D. F.|title=Lipschitz constants for the Bernstein polynomials of a Lipschitz continuous functions |journal=Journal of Approximation Theory |date=1987 |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=196–199 |doi=10.1016/0021-9045(87)90087-6 |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1016/0021-9045(87)90087-6|access-date=7 March 2026|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He has an Erdős number of 3.<ref>{{cite web |title=Collaboration Distance |url=https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet/freetools/collab-dist?source=135245&target=189017 |website=MathSciNet |publisher=American Mathematical Society |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref>

It was, however, in mathematics education that Paget made his most significant contribution. He coached the Hobart team to strong performances in the Tournament of the Towns and led the Australian team at the International Mathematical Olympiad from 1991 to 1995.<ref name=Taylor>{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Peter |title=1997 BH Neumann Award Recipients |date=28 October 2019 |url=https://amt.edu.au/1997-bh-neumann-award-recipients |publisher=Australian Mathematics Trust |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref> One team member, Akshay Venkatesh, went on to win the Fields Medal.

For his contributions to mathematics education, Paget was awarded the BH Neumann Award in 1997 and Paget St in Bruce, ACT was named after him in 2008.<ref name=AMT /><ref name=AMS /><ref>{{cite web |title=Public Place Names (Bruce) Determination 2008 (No 1) |url=https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/DownloadFile/di/2008-279/current/PDF/2008-279.PDF |publisher=Government of the Australian Capital Territory |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref>

Paget was married with four children. As a hobby he collected cigarette cards.<ref name=AMT />

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Paget, David}} Category:1943 births Category:1997 deaths Category:People from Twickenham Category:English emigrants to Australia Category:Alumni of the University of Southampton Category:University of Tasmania alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of Tasmania Category:Numerical analysts Category:20th-century Australian mathematicians