W H (Bill) Vaughan, a founding trustee of the Mathematics Trust, worked for many years writing, printing, and distributing model solutions to University Entrance Bursary and Scholarship Examinations. The accumulated funds held in the Trust are used to encourage and support Mathematics in a variety of ways, and this prize, established through the Victoria University Foundation, is one of these ways.

The prize is awarded annually on the recommendation of the Head of the School (or nominee), to the best student completing the mathematics major.

Recipients will be asked to write a letter of thanks, which will be forwarded appropriately.