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The 2025 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Section of the MAA

The 2025 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Section of the Mathematical Association of America will be held March 28-29, 2025 at University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois.

Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

Meeting Highlights

This year's conference will include:

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Meeting Schedule

The conference will take place on Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29. The detailed meeting schedule and abstracts are is available in PDF format:

Below is an overview of the meeting schedule.

Friday, March 28, 2025

Saturday, March 29, 2025

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Plenary Talks

Jim Kulich
Elmhurst University
Opening Plenary, 2:00pm - 2:50pm on Friday, March 28
Generating a Tailwind With AI

The pace of AI's evolution is dizzying, with all the attendant possibilities and pitfalls. In this presentation, we'll explore focused ways to use generative AI to advance some goals we, our students, and those for whom they will work have. We'll walk down the path that takes us from basic use of AI to a more mature approach that taps the best of what AI can offer with support and guardrails in place. We'll consider the possibilities AI assistants have for improving student performance and for equipping our students to better meet the needs of the workforce. You'll get a sense of how you can develop your own basic AI assistants. Simply turning over the keys to AI is rarely a good strategy. Using AI to give your efforts a tailwind can be a great path forward.

Cindy Wyels
CSU Channel Islands
Evening Plenary, 7:45pm - 8:35pm on Friday, March 28
Data Science for and by Pure Mathematicians

Consider the skills and habits of mind developed through studying pure mathematics. These — and some basic statistical techniques — are enough to address some questions of interest given a small data set. With a larger investment of time for individual learning, a healthy dose of humility, and perhaps some collaborators, people whose preparation focused on pure mathematics can produce data-based studies of interest to many audiences. Join me for a story involving a years-long transition, a cast of dozens, some alluring marine megafauna and much serendipity as I argue for the value of all types of research for and by all types of researchers.

Greg Larnell
University of Illinois Chicago
Morning Plenary, 8:30am - 9:20am on Saturday, March 29
The Principle, Perils, and Persecution of Equity in Mathematics Education

Over the past 40 years, equity in mathematics education has developed from a marginal idea into a mainstream principle. Yet, in the current political moment, the term has become a political target in national discourse and policy. What does equity mean now? In this talk, I explore the evolution of equity as a concept within mathematics education scholarship. I argue that equity discourse has a decades-long and distinctive history in U.S. mathematics education — a history that is accentuated by national status concerns. The talk highlights the developments and dangers of equity as a discourse and is punctuated by the following questions: For whom and for what purposes? Who benefits? Where do we go from here?

Deanna Haunsperger
Carleton College
Closing Plenary, 12:00pm - 1:00pm on Saturday, March 29
A Glimpse at the Horizon

What do a square-wheeled bicycle, a 17th-century French painting, and the Indiana legislature all have in common? They appear among the many bright stars on the mathematical horizon, or, um, in Math Horizons. Math Horizons, the undergraduate magazine started by the MAA in 1994 publishes articles to introduce students to the world of mathematics outside the classroom. Some of mathematics' best expositors have written for MH over the years; here is an idiosyncratic tour of the first ten years of Horizons.

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Conference Workshop

This year's pre-conference workshop , titled "Bring your data to Life", will be led by Dr. Jim Kulich from Elmhurst University. The workshop will take place at 11:00am - 12:30pm on Friday, March 28. Dr. Kulich's abstract can be found below:

In this workshop, we will explore ways to use interactive data visualization tools and techniques to create impactful stories from data. While standard statistical presentations of data have real value, a new level can be achieved when taking a more dynamic, visual, and interactive approach. We'll begin with an exploration, as a group, of how some common data on movies can come to life using Tableau, a popular data visualization tool. Next, we'll see what today's AI can offer in this realm. You'll then have a chance to explore possibilities for using some of your own data. These are methods you can apply in classes at any level, in your own research, and in your engagements with professionals across many fields. No background is needed. Just bring some good data, your laptop, and if you have one, a copy of Tableau.

Please note that advance registration is required for participation in this workshop. Please select this option when completing your conference registration. The registration fee for the workshop includes lunch.

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Registration Information

We will be using the MAA site to register online for the conference. You do not need to be an MAA member to register. If you don't have an MAA account, you can set up a free MAA account solely for registration purposes.

Before you register, you should check whether your institution is or will be an institutional sponsor. Note that if you are a Section NExT fellow or a plenary speaker, once you do your complimentary registration, you do not need to sign up for the banquet or the workshop. The Section will plan on you doing both. (Please let Cara Sulyok (csulyok@lewisu.edu) know if that's not the case.)

Early registration (by March 14) is $40 for faculty, the workshop is $20, and the banquet is $30. On-site registration is $45. Student registration is $10. Banquet tickets must be ordered by March 14. Online registration (credit card payment only) is available here:

If you prefer to pay by check, please mail the registration form (Word file or PDF) with a check to Cara Sulyok, ISMAA Secretary/Treasurer, Department of Engineering, Computing, and Mathematical Sciences Lewis University, 1 University Parkway, Unit 298, Romeoville, IL 60446 by March 14. If you are mailing in your registration and ordering a banquet ticket close to the March 14 deadline, please email Cara Sulyok (csulyok@lewisu.edu) so a banquet ticket can be saved for you.

Please note that all conference participants are expected to adhere to the following MAA policies:

If you have any questions concerning registration, please contact Cara Sulyok (csulyok@lewisu.edu).

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Student Travel Support

Travel funds are available to support student attendance at the ISMAA meeting at the University of St. Francis. Up to $75 per student is available for Illinois institutions to use in support of student travel, with a max of $300 per institution. Limited funds are available.

We ask that institutions which already provide full support not request these funds. Travel funds are not available to the hosting institution or to institutions within 50 miles of the meeting site. Travel awards are available for all students (secondary, undergraduate, or graduate); however, preference will be given to students presenting at the meeting.

To apply for travel funds, please fill out the Student Travel form (Word file or PDF). Please send completed forms electronically to Cara Sulyok (csulyok@lewisu.edu) by March 14, 2025.

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Call for Presenters

Parallel sessions of contributed talks are planned for Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29 at the ISMAA Annual Meeting. Students and faculty are invited to propose a presentation on a topic dealing with mathematics or the teaching and learning of mathematics by clicking on the Abstract Submission link below. We expect talks to be 15-20 minutes long, depending on the number of submissions.

Abstract Submission Form

Individuals interested in presenting should submit an abstract (at most one paragraph) with the name(s) of the author(s) by March 14, 2025 via the link above. Please note that this form does NOT register you for the 2025 ISMAA Annual Meeting.

Questions or special needs may be directed to Program Committee chair, Kevin A. Palencia Infante, at palencia@niu.edu.

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Award Nominations

A number of awards may be presented at the meeting. Those awards may include the Early Career Teaching Award, the Distinguished Service Award, the Distinguished Teaching Award, the Outstanding Undergraduate Research (OUR) Award, and the Outstanding Graduate Research Exposition (OGRE) Award. However, in order to be able to make those awards, the Awards Committee needs your help to identify deserving candidates. Additional information on the requirements of each award, as well as the nomination process, can be found on the Awards page.

Nominations for the Early Career Teaching, Distinguished Service, and Distinguished Teaching awards are due by February 28, 2025.

Nominations for the Outstanding Undergraduate Research (OUR) and Outstanding Graduate Research Exposition (OGRE) awards are due by March 14, 2025.

Questions should be addressed to the Awards Committee chair, Tim Comar (timcomar@gmail.com).

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Section NExT

Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a professional development program of the MAA. This program is designed to support new college faculty in their teaching, scholarly, and professional activities and to help these new faculty members to get involved in the mathematical community beyond their own institutions. The success of Project NExT on the national level has prompted some MAA sections, including the Illinois section, to organize their own local versions of this program, called Section NExT.

The annual ISMAA Section NExT Program will be held in conjunction with the ISMAA Annual Meeting, this year held at the University of St. Francis in Joliet on March 28 - 29, 2025. Anyone within their first four years of teaching mathematics (after finishing a master's or doctoral degree) at any two or four-year college or university in Illinois is eligible, as well as any graduate students at universities in Illinois who are completing their PhD this year and have a position in Illinois for the upcoming academic year. Newly selected ISMAA Section NExT Fellows will have their meeting registration, pre-conference workshop registration, banquet fees, and Friday lunch paid for by the ISMAA for the 2025 and 2026 ISMAA Annual Meetings.

The Section NExT Program will begin on Friday morning (March 28, 2025), with the pre-conference workshop. The ISMAA Section NExT program will conclude on the morning of Saturday, March 29, 2025, preceding the closing address of the ISMAA meeting. The topic for the Saturday morning round table discussion will be determined by interest of the Fellows.

Please send your application to Christina Jamroz at cjamroz@stfrancis.edu. Application materials for ISMAA Section NExT Fellows can be accessed via the links below.

ISMAA Section NExT Application (MS Word)
ISMAA Section NExT Application (pdf)

For further information, please contact the Coordinator for the ISMAA Section NExT Program:

Christina Jamroz
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
University of St. Francis, Joliet, IL
Email: cjamroz@stfrancis.edu

The application deadline for the 2025 ISMAA Section NExT Fellows is Friday, March 7, 2025.

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Business Meeting

The annual business meeting of the section will be held at 5:15pm - 6:15pm on Friday, March 28. The meeting will take place in the building listed as Donovan Hall on the campus map, in the room labeled San Damiano Hall.

The business meeting agenda includes approval of the minutes of the 2024 business meeting and the election of board members. A copy of the unapproved minutes of the 2024 business meeting is available for review.

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