The biggest good news from the Board of Governors meeting in January was the
generous gift of $3 million from Paul and Virginia Halmos to create a
conference center at MAA headquarters in Washington.
The MAA is in sound shape financially and in terms of membership (and of course we raised dues at the current rate of inflation). Once again, I urge those of you receiving this Newsletter but not yet members to join. Did you know that when you retire, your membership in the MAA continues without annual dues for the rest of your life (although if you want subscriptions to journals other than Focus you do have to pay a little)?
Of local interest, the Michigan Section’s Bylaws, which you approved last year, were ratified by the Board.
One exciting new program at the national level is called Preparing Mathematicians to Educate Teachers (PMET), a program designed to assist those mathematicians who currently train, or are interested in training, both pre- and in-service teachers. The philosophy of the program is guided by the recent CBMS report, The Mathematical Education of Teachers.
A sixth SIGMAA has been formed, this one a special interest group in the philosophy of mathematics. (Punsters certainly would have preferred that the sixth SIGMAA be in the area of statistical quality control!)
Most of us in academia will find interesting the draft recommendations of MAA’s Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics (CUPM) on Undergraduate Programs and Courses in the Mathematical Sciences. This is a document revised about once a decade, and the latest version is right on, in my opinion. CUPM wants to know what you think about this document.
The theme for Mathematics Awareness Month this year (April) is Mathematics and Art.
The mathematical trip to Greece (May–June 2003) apparently sold out in about 24 hours. If it’s successful, future such trips will be planned.
You can read about most of these things and lots more at MAA Online (http://www.maa.org). This site gets nearly 5000 visit per day and has much of interest, including a link to MathDL’s annotated catalog of math books and software, fascinating columns, and the Journal of Online Mathematics and Its Applications. By the time you receive this, we are told, the e-commerce section will be operational, and you can order your favorite MAA books online.
I hope to see you all at the Spring meeting in Saginaw on May 2–3!
Jerrold W. Grossman, Governor