Leone Burton
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Leone Minna Burton (née Gold; 14 September 1936 – 1 December 2007) was a professor of education in mathematics and science, working in London teacher education colleges in the 1970s, the Open University in the 1980s and, from 1992, the University of Birmingham. At the South Bank Polytechnic (now London South Bank University), she helped establish the first MSc in Mathematics Education in the UK. After retiring in 2001 she became Honorary Professor at King's College London, and Visiting Fellow in the Cambridge University Faculty of Education.[1] She was noted for her influence as a researcher and doctoral supervisor, setting up national and international research networks in the developing area of mathematics education.[2]
Burton was born in Australia and moved to England in her early twenties. She attended the University of London studying mathematics.[3] She began teaching at the secondary level but disliked the educational structure and methods of the day and moved to teaching at the primary level to have a greater opportunity to change teaching structure. She received a postgraduate certificate in education in 1966 and an academic diploma in education in 1968, both from the University of London. In 1967 she obtained a post as a mathematical education specialist at Battersea College of Education, which was dedicated to teacher preparation. She received her PhD from the Institute of Education in 1980 with a thesis entitled "The impact of education on political development".[4]
