The 2026 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Section of the MAA

The 2026 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Section of the Mathematical Association of America will be held March 27-28, 2026 at the University of Illinois Springfield in Springfield, Illinois.

Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

Meeting Highlights

This year's conference will include:

Two full days of speakers and activities beginning midday Friday, 3/27 and ending around lunchtime on Saturday, 3/28
A pre-conference workshop on Friday morning (lunch provided) led by Lauren Keough from Grand Valley State University
Four plenary talks, including talks by:
- Paul Blanchard (Boston University)
- Hei-Chi Chan (University of Illinois Springfield)
- Lauren Keough (Grand Valley State University)
- Paul Sirvatka (College of DuPage)
Numerous concurrent sessions: you and your graduate students are welcome to give a 15-20 minute talk during one of these sessions
Concurrent sessions for undergraduate student speakers giving talks: please encourage your undergraduates to present at the conference
A conference banquet on Friday evening
A student-centered event (details to follow)

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Meeting Schedule

The conference will take place on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28. The pre-conference workshop will be held on the morning of Friday, March 27. Talks will take place that afternoon and the following morning, with the final plenary concluding around lunchtime on Saturday, March 28. A detailed schedule will be made available closer to the conference date.

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Plenary Talks

Paul Blanchard
Boston University
Treasurer of the Mathematical Association of America
Newton's Method: Complex Numerics and Complex Dynamics

Newton's method is an iterative root-finding algorithm that is both simple and surprisingly efficient. We start with an initial guess for the root and apply the algorithm repeatedly until we obtain the desired approximation. Unfortunately, a random guess does not always lead to a root. In this talk, we use the theory of complex dynamics along with some computer graphics to explain the difficulties that might arise, and we suggest ways to avoid these pitfalls. As the story unfolds, we encounter both chaos and fractals.

Lauren Keough
Grand Valley State University
My Two Word Teaching Philosophy

Teaching can be incredibly hard, and it's easy to lose sight of the big picture. In this talk I will discuss what happened when I embraced a two word teaching philosophy: empathy first. This attitude has changed what I do in my classroom - assessment techniques, activities, and what I value. In a time when I both feel a need for radical change and am just so tired, I'll try to offer some concrete things I've tried, both big and small from efficient and effective ways to implement different assessment techniques to conversations with struggling students. This talk is a tribute to everyone I've ever had the privilege of talking about teaching with, including my students: I've learned something from all of you!

Hei-Chi Chan
University of Illinois Springfield
AI, vectors, and a billion-dollar industry

The rise of generative AI has sparked a fundamental shift in how information is stored, searched, and retrieved. At the core of this transformation are key components: (1) vector representations-familiar mathematical structures that encode "meaning" in high-dimensional spaces, and (2) the systems built to manage them, namely vector databases. These databases are designed to enable Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) search, a technique that makes it possible to find semantically similar items quickly and efficiently. They power applications such as intelligent search, recommendation engines, and conversational AI. In this talk, we will discuss the mathematical concepts and models connected to these developments. We will also explore how the demand for these technologies has fueled explosive industry growth, creating a billion-dollar market within the last several years. This talk emphasizes intuition, real-world relevance, and the opportunities emerging at the intersection of mathematics and AI.

Paul Sirvatka
College of DuPage
Should You Teach Calculus Concepts to Students with Minimal Math Skills? That's a Question!

On the first day of Introductory classes, I introduce the concept of a derivative in order to disarm students apprehension toward science, set the groundwork for understanding that math is a language used by scientists to make scientific understanding easier, and to captivate the students into my own teaching style. The lesson is fun and novel and shared by all my students for over 30 years. We will also discuss how advanced concepts of calculus find exceptional meaning in the field of meteorology.

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Conference Workshop

This year's pre-conference workshop , titled "Math Circle Magic for All", will be led by Lauren Keough from Grand Valley State University. Dr. Keough's abstract can be found below:

One of my favorite ways to interact with people is through doing problems that people don't always think of as "math". I've led math circles at GVSU for several years and will present some of my favorite problems. Some of these are magic tricks, and some are just magical in the cool math one discovers while exploring them. This will be an interactive talk where audience members get to discuss math-ish problems with each other and will (hopefully) get to leave with a new discovery of their own.

Additional details will be made available closer to the conference date.

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

Registration for the meeting will open approximately one month in advance of the meeting. Check back for updates.

Call for Presenters

Parallel sessions of contributed talks are planned for Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28 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 1, 2026 via the link above. Please note that this form does NOT register you for the 2026 ISMAA Annual Meeting.

Questions or special needs may be directed to Program Committee chair, Scott Zinzer, at zinzers@cod.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.

Deadlines for nominations will be announced closer to the conference date.

Questions should be addressed to the Awards Committee chair, Jeanette Mokry (jolli@dom.edu).

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Business Meeting

The annual business meeting of the section will be held during the conference. The time and location will be made available closer to the conference date.

The business meeting agenda includes approval of the minutes of the 2025 business meeting and the election of board members. A copy of the unapproved minutes of the 2025 business meeting is available for review.

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Local Information

For information concerning travel and accommodations in Springfield, please see the UIS Travel & Accommodations page.

Parking is available on the UIS campus at a rate of $1 per hour. For additional parking information, please see the UIS Visitor Parking page.

Additional local information will be made available closer to the conference date.

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