Ren Potts has an international reputation as a mathematician and his work has been honoured at the highest levels. He was a co-recipient of the prestigious Lanchester Prize awarded by the Operations Research Society of America, and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. The citation for his ANZIAM Medal refers to his 'outstanding role in Applied Mathematics in Australia for 35 years' and his ‘splendid achievements that have done so much to shape Industrial and Applied Mathematics in Australia'.
Ren Potts was the South Australian Rhodes Scholar for 1948 and graduated with a PhD and a DSc degree at Oxford University. He served as Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Adelaide from 1951 to 1957. This was followed by a 2 year term as Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. He occupied the Chair of Applied Mathematics at the University of Adelaide from 1959 to 1990, and for his services was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1991.