Iain Campbell and the Heriot-Watt Maths Gym

In May 2024, Heriot-Watt University’s Maths Gym was renamed in honour of the philanthropist and advocate of higher education, John “Iain” Campbell.

The Campbell Maths Gym is a cross-campus initiative that supports students in Scotland, Dubai, Malaysia, or enrolled on distance learning programmes. It provides one-to-one academic assistance in maths and statistics to ensure that students can get to grips with these challenging but fundamental subjects. When it was introduced in 2020, the Maths Gym met with immediate success. Students were quick to take advantage of the one-to-one help offered, and before long demand was outpacing supply. Thankfully, the 1821 Appeal rallied Heriot-Watt University’s community of alumni, friends, and supporters, granting the Maths Gym a new lease of life and the opportunity to expand its reach.

One such donor was Iain Campbell, known for his remarkable career as W. L. Gore & Associates’ defence attorney. A Heriot-Watt alumnus and the former director of the American Friends of Heriot-Watt University (AFoHW), Iain graduated from Heriot-Watt’s Edinburgh campus (to this day he thinks of Edinburgh as “one of the world’s greatest cities”) back in 1972 with a First-Class degree in Chemical Engineering. “I benefited from and enjoyed my time at Heriot-Watt,” Iain says now, “most of which was spent at the Chambers Street building. I loved it!”

Questioned about why he chose to support the Maths Gym, Iain explained that his own degree programme “had a strong mathematical component,” which gave him “a deep appreciation of mathematics as a basic skill.” This appreciation is perhaps rooted in Iain’s own professional success: “The grounding I received in maths at Heriot-Watt served me well in my career in law and business.”

It’s this recognition of maths as a foundational skill for so many subjects, careers, and fields that binds Iain to the ethos behind the Maths Gym. Student feedback to Maths Gym coordinator, Professor Emma Coutts, echoes his observation: “Thank you so much for all the help you have given me this year and last,” said one student on the Electrical Engineering programme, “I couldn’t have done it without your support.” Another student, this time studying Actuarial Science, said, “I was very close to dropping out, but I am now looking forward to continuing my degree with Maths Gym support.”

Professor Coutts acknowledges the diversity of Maths Gym users and the broad relevance of mathematics in both academic and professional life: “We help students from many backgrounds, many disciplines, each with their own goals,” she says. “We have received personal statements from students who said that we’re the reason that they managed to stay on their course. It has built their confidence in applying their mathematical skills to whatever topic it is that they’re studying.”

Iain isn’t surprised to hear that there’s an ongoing need for support in maths. “Mathematics can be intimidating,” he says, adding that “the opportunity for students to get a little extra help in a low-key, nonintimidating environment is an excellent way to help students overcome their math-phobia.” And, if student feedback is anything to go by, the Maths Gym has been doing just that.

For further information on this initiative, please contact Senior Development Executive, Andrew Mackinnon at a.mackinnon@hw.ac.uk, and learn more about Heriot-Watt’s campaign for global impact, Shaping Futures.

This piece originally appeared in the HW Donor Impact Report 2023/2024. To get your copy, contact Stewardship Officer, Frederick Johnson - f.johnson@hw.ac.uk.