Ensuring continuity
The Board makes certain that an IMO is held every year and preserves continuity in the organization between one Olympiad and the next (Board Regulation 8).
Welcome
Dr. Luis Eduardo García Hernández
Mathematician, educator, organizer, and member of the Ibero-American olympiad community — standing to serve the IMO community with collaboration, openness, and continuity.
This website introduces my candidacy for election to the IMO Board and the vision I would bring to serving the international Mathematical Olympiad community. It is written for members of that community — Leaders, Deputy Leaders, trainers, organizers, and friends of the IMO — whether or not you already know me or the workings of the Board.
About the IMO Board
The International Mathematical Olympiad is much more than an annual competition. It is a global community of over one hundred participating countries working together to inspire young mathematicians and promote mathematical excellence.
The International Mathematical Olympiad Board (IMO Board) is elected by the IMO Jury to support this international collaboration throughout the year. While the Jury remains the highest decision-making body of the IMO, the Board ensures continuity between Olympiads and helps coordinate many aspects of the organization's long-term development.
IMO Community100+ participating countries
IMO JuryThe highest decision-making body — all team Leaders
IMO BoardElected by the Jury to serve between Olympiads
What the Board does
Supporting host countries
It responds to questions and requests for advice or assistance from host countries as they prepare to hold an IMO (Board Regulation 9).
Selecting future hosts
It seeks invitations from countries, evaluates bids, and proposes future host countries to the Jury for confirmation (Board Regulation 9).
Improving the IMO
It brings the Jury proposals designed to improve how IMOs are organized and run (Board Regulation 9).
International cooperation
It maintains relations with organizations such as the IMU, UNESCO, and ICME to promote the popularization of the IMO (Board Regulations 3 & 11).
Ethics Committee & IMO Foundation
It consults the Ethics Committee on ethics questions and represents the IMO to the IMO Foundation on funding matters (Board Regulations 12 & 14).
The election process
This reflects how the process has worked in recent years; the formal rules are set out in the Rules Associated with the Election of Members to the IMO Board (referenced in General Regulation 1.5).
1
Nominations
Candidates are nominated to the Secretary General before the General Meeting (Board Regulation 5).
2
The Jury votes
The Jury elects new members during the IMO's General Meeting. Where more than one seat is open, voting has been held in more than one round.
3
Four-year term
Elected members of the Board serve a term of four years (Board Regulation 5).
Why this election matters
The people elected to the Board help shape the direction of the IMO for years to come — how it supports newer countries, how it preserves its traditions, and how it responds to new challenges. Choosing who serves is one of the most important decisions the community makes together.
My Journey
Mathematics has been an important part of my life since I was a student. Through Mathematical Olympiads I discovered not only the beauty of mathematics, but also an international community built on friendship, collaboration and the shared goal of inspiring young people.
Over the years I have had the privilege of contributing to this community in many different roles: contestant, trainer, coordinator, leader, organizer and academic director.
My olympiad journey
15+years in the olympiad community
7roles: contestant to Academic Director
IMO · EGMO · PAGMO · IMSCinternational competitions served
- StudentDiscovering mathematics through olympiads
- National ContestantCompeting in the Mexican Mathematical Olympiad
- University CoachBeginning to give back as a trainer
- National TrainerPreparing students for national and international selection
- IMO CoordinatorServing on the coordination of scores at the IMO
- Team LeaderLeading Mexican delegations internationally
- Academic DirectorDirecting the academic program of the Mexican Olympiad
In the olympiad community
National leadership
As Academic Director of the Mexican Mathematical Olympiad, I oversee the academic preparation, training strategy, and national-level activities of the Mexican Mathematical Olympiad. I have also served as a national trainer and team leader, responsible for selecting and preparing the students who represent Mexico.
Organizing olympiads
Beyond training, I have organized competitions and camps end to end — coordinating logistics, academic committees, volunteers, national contests, training camps, and international olympiad activities.
Supporting girls in mathematics
I have been closely involved in efforts to widen participation for girls in mathematics: contributing to the Mexican Girls' Mathematical Olympiad since 2023, and serving as Main Organizer of PAGMO 2024 (the Pan-American Girls' Mathematical Olympiad).
IMO
International Mathematical Olympiad — as coordinator and as leader of the Mexican team.
EGMO
European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad — support through training and preparation activities connected with girls' olympiad programs.
PAGMO
Pan-American Girls' Mathematical Olympiad — Main Organizer of PAGMO 2024.
IMSC
International Mathematics Summer Camp — instructor in geometry, algebra, and number theory courses at BIMSA, China.
Photos from training camps, IMO Jury meetings, delegations, PAGMO, and national camps to be placed throughout this page.
As a mathematician
My academic career has developed alongside my commitment to Mathematical Olympiads. Research, university teaching, and Olympiad training have continuously enriched one another, allowing me to contribute both to mathematical research and to the education of future generations of mathematicians.
Academic positions
- Postdoctoral ResearcherCentro de Ciencias Matemáticas, UNAM (Morelia) — present
- PhD in MathematicsMathematics Institute, UNAM — 2024
- Lecturer, Faculty of Science, UNAMCalculus & problem-solving courses — since 2017
- Lecturer, Universidad LaSalleGeometry, vectors & vector calculus — 2024
Research
Teaching
Olympiads
Building the International Mathematical Community
Research interests
Teaching
I have taught Differential and Integral Calculus (I–IV) and problem-solving and algebra seminars at UNAM's Faculty of Science continuously since 2017, and Geometry, Vectors, and Vector Calculus at Universidad LaSalle. Teaching at university level and training olympiad students inform one another constantly.
What mathematics means to me
For me, mathematics is a way of thinking clearly and honestly, and a language that lets people from very different backgrounds understand one another. Olympiads showed me that mathematical talent exists everywhere, and that our task as a community is to give it the chance to grow.
Beyond competitions
The olympiad is only the visible part of a much larger effort: the trainers, volunteers, and organizers who make it possible year after year. Much of my work has been in that quieter part — building programs and supporting the people who sustain them.
A personal note
I am standing for the Board because I want to help this community that has given me so much, and to make sure the doors that opened for me stay open — and open wider — for students everywhere.
Vision & Initiatives
The IMO Board exists to serve the Jury and the international IMO community. My vision is based on collaboration, transparency and respect for every delegation, while helping the IMO preserve its traditions and respond to new challenges.
Strengthening the IMO Community
Listening to every delegation
Creating regular, genuine channels for delegations of every size to be heard — so that proposals reaching the Jury reflect the whole community, not only its largest voices.
Improving communication
Making the Board's work and decisions clearer and more accessible to Leaders, Deputy Leaders, and organizers throughout the year.
Preserving institutional knowledge
Documenting the experience of organizers and past Boards so that lessons are not lost from one Olympiad to the next.
Inclusion and Global Representation
Supporting geographic diversity
Drawing on more than forty years of collaboration and tradition within the Ibero-American Mathematical Olympiad community — including Mexico's long-standing contribution to the IMO — to help ensure regions that are less visible in current structures are heard and supported.
Reducing gender gaps in mathematics
Building on my work with the Mexican Girls' Mathematical Olympiad and as Main Organizer of PAGMO 2024 to support initiatives that widen participation for girls and young women in mathematics.
Long-Term Development
Supporting new and developing countries
Pairing the existing pathways for newer countries (General Regulation 2.9) with real, responsive support so that first participation leads to lasting participation.
Promoting international collaboration
Encouraging the exchange of training resources, problems, and experience across borders, so that the whole community grows stronger together.
Transparency and trust
Working so that the Board's processes — from host selection to funding — are transparent and command the trust of every delegation.
The initiatives in detail
Axis I · Strengthening the IMO Community
Listening to every delegation
In practice this means lightweight, dependable channels: short surveys before and after each IMO, open office hours during the event, and a standing way for smaller delegations to raise concerns between Olympiads.
Between IMOs the Board acts on behalf of the Jury (Board Regulation 2), and its proposals are only as strong as the range of voices behind them. I would work to gather feedback systematically and report back on how it shaped decisions, so delegations can see that being heard actually changes outcomes.
Axis I · Strengthening the IMO Community
Improving communication
Much of the Board's work is invisible to the community between Olympiads. I would advocate for a short, plain-language summary of decisions after each Board meeting, accessible explanations of processes such as host selection and funding, and timely notice of any changes that affect delegations.
Clear communication is not bureaucracy — it lets Leaders prepare their teams and their institutions with confidence, and it builds the trust a volunteer community runs on.
Axis I · Strengthening the IMO Community
Preserving institutional knowledge
Every host country solves many of the same problems, and every Board learns lessons that risk being lost when its membership turns over.
I would support building and maintaining shared resources — practical handbooks for hosts, a record of past decisions and the reasoning behind them, and a genuine handover between outgoing and incoming members — so the community does not repeatedly relearn the same things.
Axis II · Inclusion and Global Representation
Supporting geographic diversity
The Ibero-American Mathematical Olympiad community has more than forty years of collaboration and shared tradition, and Mexico has contributed to the IMO for decades. That experience taught me how much regions gain from sustained mutual support rather than one-off help.
On the Board I would work to ensure that regions currently less visible — in Latin America, Africa, and elsewhere — are actively consulted, and that the pathways toward their fuller participation are real, maintained, and matched to what each region actually needs.
Axis II · Inclusion and Global Representation
Reducing gender gaps in mathematics
I have seen directly the difference that dedicated initiatives make. Through the Mexican Girls' Mathematical Olympiad and as Main Organizer of PAGMO 2024, I have worked to widen participation for girls and young women in mathematics.
On the Board I would support and connect the many national and regional efforts already underway — sharing what works, encouraging competitions such as EGMO and PAGMO, and helping ensure the IMO community remains welcoming to every talented student.
Axis III · Long-Term Development
Supporting new and developing countries
The regulations already allow newer countries to send a team, or an observer with a view to participating the following year (General Regulation 2.9). The real challenge is making first participation lead to lasting participation.
I would work to pair those formal pathways with practical support — mentoring from experienced delegations, shared training materials, and honest attention to the barriers of cost and access — so that new countries stay, grow, and eventually mentor others in turn.
Axis III · Long-Term Development
Promoting international collaboration
One of the IMO's founding aims is to foster friendly relationships among mathematicians of all countries (General Regulation 1.4). Collaboration is not a side benefit of the IMO — it is part of its purpose.
Building on the remote and cross-border collaborations I have taken part in, I would encourage the exchange of problems, training resources, and experience across borders, so that strong programs help emerging ones and the whole community rises together.
Axis III · Long-Term Development
Transparency and trust
Trust is the currency of a volunteer community. I would work so that the Board's key processes — how future hosts are chosen, how funding requests are handled with the IMO Foundation (Board Regulation 14), and how decisions are made between Olympiads — are transparent and clearly communicated.
Delegations should understand not only what the Board decides, but why. Openness about reasoning is what turns decisions into shared decisions.
I believe the future of the IMO should be built through collaboration, continuity and openness. If elected, I would work to serve the Jury with humility and commitment, bringing the perspective of a mathematician, educator, organizer and member of the Ibero-American olympiad community.
Let's Connect
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about my candidacy.
I always welcome conversations with colleagues from the international Mathematical Olympiad community.
I look forward to meeting many of you during the 67th International Mathematical Olympiad in Shanghai.