The SANUM meeting came into existence in 1975 when two eminent mathematicians, Lothar Collatz (Hamburg) and Fritz John (New York), happened to visit South Africa at the same time. A number of local researchers used the opportunity to organize a meeting at the (then) University of Natal, at which a total of ten papers were presented. From here the meeting grew in strength, with numerous famous numerical and applied mathematicians passing through. Aside from missing a single year (1996) and on one occasion (1997) being a mere special session of a larger conference, the meeting has been held annually, which makes SANUM major event in the calendar of South African numerical and applied mathematics.
In 1997, SANUM was not a separate meeting but a special session at the joint AMS-SAMS meeting held in Pretoria, 25-28 June.[1], [2]
In the very early days of SANUM, the Computer Science Department of the University of Natal also published full-length manuscripts from those authors who were willing to provide them. When that was discontinued, special editions of a journal were twice used for the purpose:
We are also trying to compile a collection of photographs of plenary speakers from past SANUM meetings. You can find these here.