By the time he was in Grade 6, Robert Barrington Leigh was already proving himself a force to be reckoned with in the world of mathematics. He was involved in math competitions, training camps for the Olympiad, and a Saturday math club at the University of Alberta, where he met his future mentor, U of A math professor Dr. Andy Liu.

The young man’s skills were so extraordinary, Liu invited him to weekly private sessions on the campus.

Three years later, Leigh received an honourable mention at the prestigious Canadian Mathematical Olympiad, a contest in which only a handful of high school students across Canada are invited to participate. He also published two papers in international journals and won Edmonton’s annual Junior High Mathematical Contest. While still in grade 9, the young prodigy had already completed his grade 12 made requirements, and according to Liu, was reading 400-level university material.

Leigh’s remarkable talent not only won him titles, prizes and accolades, but also gave him the opportunity to travel from his hometown of Edmonton to Ontario, Newfoundland, and at one point, Glasgow, Scotland to represent Canada at the International Mathematical Olympiad.

It was not until he was in university that Robert Barrington Leigh began to feel his natural mathematical inquisitiveness being stifled. Liu says that in his first two years, Leigh was still able to maintain “mathematical curiosity,” but as he progressed further in his study, he was forced to narrow his focus.

This development was evidenced in his performance at the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition for the three years he was at U of T. The Putnam draws some 2,000 students each year from all the top schools in North America including Princeton, MIT and Harvard. Leigh placed in the top 10 his first two years, but in his third year, he finished in a three-way tie for the 11-13 place-and out of the top ten for the first time in his life.

But regardless of his success in any endeavour, friends, peers and faculty never had an unkind word to say about the tall, soft-spoken math whiz. John Bland, Head of U of T’s Mathematics Department describes Leigh as “exceptional in every way: smiling and pleasant, polite, kind and helpful to his fellow students”. He was extremely well-liked, modest and always willing to help out others.

He was also incredibly well-rounded, with talents in several diverse areas. Leigh was a skilled lighting and sound technician, an avid outdoorsman and an enthusiastic pianist-a modern Renaissance man.

On Aug. 13, Robert Barrington Leigh left his Edmonton home on his medium-blue Raleigh “Cliffhanger” bike, heading for a folk music festival. He would not return. At 11:30 p.m., he sent his girlfriend a text message-the last anyone heard of him.

On Aug. 22, River Tours West owner Alan Flynn spotted a body near the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River, while working with a city drainage worker. The body was positively identified using dental records and ID found on the body, bringing the intense ten-day search for Robert Barrington Leigh to a tragic end.

There is no doubt that U of T has lost not only a brilliant mathematical mind, but also a caring and compassionate student who was an inspiration to all who met him. Robert Barrington Leigh will be deeply missed.