Let me start by thanking all of you for electing me to be the governor
of the Michigan Section for 2001–2004. It’s an honor I
deeply appreciate and a responsibility I hope to carry out as well as
did our previous governors, John Kiltinen (1998–2001), John Petro
(1995–1998), and so on back to James Glover (1931–1933). I
learned at my first Board of Governors meeting, at the MathFest in
Madison, Wisconsin, this summer, that one of my duties is to be the
bridge between the Section (and its members) and the national
organization. Let me share some things I learned.
The MAA has about 30,000 members, whose dues and efforts support a wealth of activities, from the Putnam Exam to efforts to influence public policy; from publication of books and journals to a Web site with so much to offer that mathematicians and students can spend days reading about their favorite topics; from recognizing excellence through its many awards to mentoring new faculty through Project NExT. If you haven’t visited the Web site recently (www.maa.org), have a look at Ivars Peterson’s, Keith Devlin’s, or Frank Morgan’s columns, or on-line book reviews, or the new Journal of Online Mathematics. The MAA has a staff of 25 in Washington, DC, plus another 11 in Nebraska (connected with competitions), but a lot of the work of our organization is done by us, its members. In fact, the national MAA has about 139 committees.
Two corollaries of all of this are that more of us should join the MAA, and more of us should participate in its operation. If you are receiving this Newsletter but are not a member, please seriously consider joining. It’s not cheap, but your dues bring you some excellent journals, give you reduced registration fees at the national meetings (such as the one coming up in January in San Diego), and give you the satisfaction of belonging to the profession and supporting it in a meaningful way. A membership application can be found on Printable Dues Form. As governor, I am asked to nominate members for service on committees, so please also seriously consider volunteering. You will interact with energetic colleagues from around the country and make a difference to the future of mathematics and education. For a list of committees, click on “About the MAA” from its Web site and follow the links. Please contact me with your preferences.
I get to write five more columns like this over the next three years and hope to share with you what is going on at the national level. But let’s have two-way communication: I want to hear from you — to volunteer your service, to let me know what you would like to see the MAA emphasize, to complain about things that need to be fixed, or to let us know what is going well. Contact information is on the Committees and Appointments page.
Perhaps as we try to cope with the instability in our lives that began on September 11, a recommitment to our roles as mathematicians and educators can keep things in focus. Becoming active in the MAA is one way to do that.
Jerrold W. Grossman, Governor