Illinois Section of the MAA

The 1998 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Section of the MAA

The Seventy-Seventh Annual Meeting of the Illinois Section of the Mathematical Association of America was held March 27 and 28, 1998, on the campus of McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois.

The 1999 ISMAA Annual Meeting will be held at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois on April 9 and 10, 1999.

The 1998 meeting included a Minicourse by Herb Hethcote, invited addresses by John Dossey, David R. Stone, and Michael Starbird, a Banquet address by Daniel Mauldin, serveral panel discussions, and activities for students.

There follows a brief summary of the meeting. Abstracts of most of the talks are aalso available. More detailed accounts of the meeting may be found in the Spring 1998 ISMAA Newsletter.

Outline of Meeting Activities

[ ISMAA Home Page ]

November 29, 1998

Session Schedule

All meeting sessions were held in Pearsons Hall or Voigt Science Hall.

Friday, March 27, 1998
9:00 a.m. Minicourse
Epidemiology Modeling
Presenter: Herb Hethcote, The University of Iowa
1:00 p.m. Registration
1:20 p.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks
Speaker: James Dennis, President, McKendree College
Presider: Jane Swafford, ISMAA Chair, Illinois State University
1:30 p.m. Opening Address
National Testing in Mathematics: What are These Tests and What Do They Tell Us?
Speaker: John Dossey, Illinois State University
Presider: Jane Swafford, ISMAA Chair
2:30 p.m. Break
Voigt Science
3:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions I
3:00 p.m. Student Mathematics Contest
Voigt Science Hall, Room 220
4:15 p.m. Annual Business Meeting
Presider: Jane Swafford, ISMAA Chair

Melyvn Jeter of Illinois Wesleyan University was elected Chair-Elect. Tom Bengston of Augustana College was eleced Director for Private Colleges. Vicki Beitler of Parkland College, Herb Kasube of Bradley University, and Dennis Ryan of McKendree College were elected Directors at Large.

6:00 p.m. Reception and Social Hour
Pearsons Hall
7:00 p.m. Student Pizza Party
Deneen Student Center, The Lair
7:00 p.m. ISMAA Annual Banquet
Pearsons Hall
  • Presentation of Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics and Distinguished Service to ISMAA Awards by Larry Morley, ISMAA Awards Committee Chair.
  • After Dinner Talk: The Scottish Book;
    Speaker: Daniel Mauldin, University of North Texas
Presider: Robert Hathaway, ISMAA Chair
Saturday, March 28, 1998
8:30 a.m. Invited Address
The Heart of Mathematics Is Its Problems
Speaker: David R. Stone, Georgia Southern University
Presider: Melvyn Jeter, Illinois Wesleyan University
9:30 p.m. Break
9:45 a.m. Concurrent Sessions II
10:50 a.m. Concurrent Sessions III
12:00 noon Closing Address
Competing with Plato, Bach, and Shakespeare
Speaker: Michael Starbird, Professor of Mathematics and Director, Discovery Learning Project, College of Natural Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin Presider: Robert Hathaway, ISMAA Chair
1:00p.m. Concluding Remarks
Pearsons Hall
Presider: Robert Hathaway, ISMAA Chair

[ Outline of Meeting Events ] [ ISMAA Home Page ]

Minicourse

This minicourse on Epidemiology Modeling will consist of two talks by Herb Hethcote of the University of Iowa. For over twenty years he has worked on mathematical models for the spread of infectious diseases such as measles, rubella, gonorrhea, pertussis, chickenpox, polio, and HIV/AIDS. The lectures on Three Basic Epidemiological Models and Comparisons of Vaccination strategies for Rubella"" will give an introduction to epidemiology modeling. Instructors may use these models in their courses in differential equations, modeling, or calculus. The basic models are comparable to models for predator-prey and competing species, but they are more useful and interesting. The minicourse materials will include references, purpose, limitations of epidemiology modeling, and three introductory articles, so the instructor will have materials ready for use in the classroom. The lectures will present the models and will include the latest information on many diseases.

[ Outline of Meeting Events ] [ ISMAA Home Page ]

Student Activities

A number of activities of particular interest to Mathematics Students are scheduled including a mathematics contest Friday afternoon, a Friday evening Pizza Party, and student presentations Saturday morning.

Following the Pizza Party Friday evening, students are invited to attend the after dinner talk by Prof. Mauldin at the Banquet.

For information on participating in the math contest or presenting a paper, see the Call for Student Participation.

[ Outline of Meeting Events ] [ ISMAA Home Page ]