Counting my blessings after September 11, among them the Section, and
the work we do to further mathematics, our network of colleagues, our
work with students, and much more. I would particularly like to thank
the folks named below.
John Kiltinen (NMU) has done a splendid job in his three years as Governor. John has served the Section for many years in many capacities. Jerry Grossman (OU) is our new Governor. Jerry has been Newsletter editor for the last 5 years. He would like a replacement now that he has additional responsibility. He has the Newsletter production down to a (mathematical?) science, and would be glad to share the details with prospective editors. See New Newsletter Needed for more details.
John Mooningham (SVSU), as Four-year College Vice Chair and chair of the Program Committee, is busy planning our annual meeting. His report appears below (see also the Call for Papers). Mike Merscher (LTU) is chair of the Local Arrangements Committee. Thanks to Janet Andersen (Hope C) and everyone at Hope for a well-run meeting last April.
Bob Messer (Albion C) is in his third (and last) year of doing an exceptional job running the MMPC, our most prominent activity. We need someone to take over this considerable operation. Negotiations are ongoing, but we also need to look ahead. Bob Xeras (SHU, retired), our PIO, has successfully publicized our activities (e.g., MMPC, Putnam honorees). Welcome to Robert Molina (Alma C) as MAA Liaison Coordinator.
Randall Pruim (Calvin C) is organizing the Michigan Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (see Fourth Undergraduate Conference Planned), taking over from Paul Fishback (GVSU). Thanks to Paul and his colleagues at GVSU for last year’s superb conference. Randy has agreed to take over the position of Student Activities Coordinator from Paul.
Paul Fishback and Steve Schlicker (GVSU) are retiring from running the High School Visiting Lecture Program and would like someone to take it over. Check out the HSVLP page on this site. They have it well organized. We need volunteers for the job; contact them to find out what is involved (see High School Visiting Lecture Program). And speaking of the Web, check out our Web site maintained by our Webmaster Earl Fife (Calvin C). Our Newsletter is there, Bylaws of the Section, events and links to other sites, and many other features (even photos of your officers).
In addition to the above, Sid Graham (CMU) as Past Chair, Margret Höft (UM–Dearborn) as Secretary/Treasurer, and Jim Ham (Delta C) as Two-year College Vice Chair have a wealth of experience and make my job easier.
There are many more people who donate their time to the Section in many ways. We always need volunteers. If you are interested in any of the positions mentioned above, or you want to be involved in another way, feel free to contact me. Also, the Distinguished Service and Distinguished Teaching Award Committees are looking for your input (see Nominations Sought for Awards and Offices).
The annual Upper Peninsula meeting was scheduled to take place on November 16–17. The conference co-sponsored by our Section with MDE and MCTM on October 31 is described on Conference Held on Teacher Preparation Programs. I am happy to report that we now have annual meeting sites through 2006. The 2002 annual meeting will be at Lawrence Technological University. There was a big Michigan contingent at the MathFest in Madison, Wisconsin, last August. In spite of the heat it was a pretty cool meeting. Hope to see you in San Diego and on MMPC Grading Day.
Ruth Favro, Chair