Distinguished Service Award

The Mathematical Association of America

Certificate of Meritorious Service

John W. Petro

Michigan Section

The Michigan Section of the MAA is pleased to recognize Professor John W. Petro as its 2001 recipient of the Certificate of Meritorious Service. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions that he has made to the Michigan Section, to the MAA, and to the greater mathematical community.

Professor Petro has served the Michigan Section as Program Chair (1987–88), Chair (1988-89), Newsletter Editor (1994–97), Governor (1995–98), Section Archivist (1991–present), and Liaison Coordinator (1999–2001). He has been a regular grader of the Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition since he joined the section in 1963. In 1999, he published an update to the “Brief History of the Michigan Section.” Also in service to the Section, he has been a member or chair of several committees, including the Nominating Committee, the Student Chapter Committee, and Local Arrangements Committee. John has directed many symposia and workshops on matrix analysis and applications, college teaching, group theory, and Maple.

In 2000, John retired from Western Michigan University, where he had been a member of the faculty since 1961 and Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics from 1996 to 2001. John has made many presentations at colleges and universities and at many Michigan Section, NCTM, and MAA meetings. His service at the national level includes a six-year membership on the AMS-MAA-SIAM Joint Committee on Employment Opportunities (which he chaired in 1986–87), and four-year term as chair of the Committee on MAA Departmental Liaisons (1995–99).

For his many years of dedicated service and outstanding leadership, the Michigan Section is proud to present the 2001 Certificate of Meritorious Service to Professor John W. Petro.