RESOLUTIONS
TEXAS SECTION, MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
APRIL 1, 2017
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez, Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye,
Whereas the Texas Section of the Mathematical Association of America has in this year of 2017 attained the venerable age of ninety-seven years, both numbers being prime, a phenomenon which has not occurred since the 83rd meeting in 2003 when we were hosted by Jamie Hebert at Sam Houston State, after which Jamie disappeared into the witness protection program or was abducted by aliens,
And whereas This year’s “double prime meeting” has been hosted with dignity, graciousness and honor by the venerable institution of Texas A&M Commerce, which accorded accomplished labors, sophistication of manners, and wholesome surroundings with inspirational room names, appreciated and admired by all attendees of the section, those attendees numbering over 367, itself a prime number, not admitting a representation as a non-trivial product but reducible to a sum of 134 faculty, 228 students and 5 visitors,
And whereas the extensive benevolence and boundless attention to details of Arrangements Chair Lymeda Singleton, assisted and ably supported by the faculty, staff, and students of TAMU Commerce, has efficiently partitioned programs and assign for our labors inspirationally named space, said parsed programs and space being rendered digital and made conveniently available to all by Adam Bowden, Section Conference Website Coordinator,
and whereas special recognition needs be afforded to the abundant and sumptuous snacks and dining; said experience crowned by a banquet, a memorable feast shared by 234 of the intellectual descendants of Euclid, Pythagoras and Archimedes,
And whereas the other officers of the Section, to wit,
Chair Sarah Stovall
Chair Elect Theresa Martines
Secretary/Treasurer David Hendricks
Governor Jacqueline Jensen-Vallin
Immediate Past Chair Therese Shelton
Arrangements Chair Lymeda Singleton
Arrangements Chair Elect Mike Panahi
Webmaster Brian Beavers
Level I Director Mike Panahi
Level II Director Meri Hughes
Level III Director Joe Iaia
Director-At-Large John T. Sieben
Student Activities Director Robert Vallin
have given to us all from the affluence of their intellects, the pleasures of their society, the security of their judgment, and the light of their insight;
And whereas our student participants availed themselves of the opportunity for “games with Robert Vallin aka the Student Activities Director, games that morphed into a Texas sized Pizza Party, after which, to the surprise of all, Hirsto Kojouharov and Robert Vallin, like pied pipers, lead 28 student teams into the Calculus Bowl,
And whereas Texas NExT Fellows were mentored by their director, Dr. Nicholas Long of Stephen F. Austin university, the university on the North Side of the Trinity River,
And whereas Ted Mahavier and Jackie Jensen in short course allowed twelve colleagues to create their own knowledge as they explored Inquiry Based Learning,
Invited Speakers
And whereas Kevin Singleton of Pixar Animation delivered in the Student Forum a most animated discussion of the mathematics of the role of Hank in Finding Dory and whereas our members of the gray hair group may think this a somewhat obscure topic for our student members, be it known and recorded that my google inquiry of “hank in finding dory” returned 497,000 hits in 0.63 seconds, a 0.63 SECONDS well spent for I learned that Hank has been in EVERY Pixar picture and Hank, unlike his tentacle rich cousins, has but seven appendages,
And whereas Dr Francis Su, in the grand tradition of Harvey Mudd College did fix our attention on fixed point theorems,
And whereas Dr. Jane Long of Stephen F. Austin University took us for a journey of 360 degrees or 2 Pi radians in the discussion of the important work of Math Circles,
And whereas our banquet speaker, the much imitated but never duplicated Stuart Anderson did make a resounding argument for participation for in the best MAA Section in the United States, the section from the state of longhorns and bluebonnets, the state that leads the nation in production of mohair from angora goats, that great state of TEXAS, gig em aggies, hook em horns, Lickem Lucky the Lion,
And whereas at a bleary Oh Dark Thirty this very morning Dr. Mike Oehtman of Oklahoma State University, did champion coherence in calculus, a serious challenge for students at that early time of day,
And whereas following Mike at a somewhat more civil hour was a worthy address by Milos Savich also from the state of Oklahoma, to wit University of, did put forth a coherent argument for creativity in proving, proving that mathematicians are indeed creative,
And whereas our longtime friend Dr. Harold Boas, Erdos number two, Former editor of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, faculty member at TA&M, shared with us a most timely topic, Fruitful Fallacies, I dare not comment further,
And whereas this section did acknowledge the teaching of Neal Brand by awarding to him the Distinguished Teaching Award 2017, and did afford to James Epperson the Distinguished Service Award to recognize his years of service to the section, and whereas the work of Angie Brown is recognized through the Distinguished Service to Students award 2017Awarads, Distinguished University Teacher, Distinguished Contributions to Students, Service Award,
Be it resolved and recorded for history that the section has not failed to fully acknowledge the efforts and successes of these and others who have most diligently labored to bring forth these happy proceedings, and that these many mathematicians have honorably and profitably invested their time this first day of April, 2017.
See you at El Centro in 2018,
p.s. April Fool, Lucky the Lion, TAMUC mascot, is a fearsome beast, not the least given to licking.
Resolutions Committee
John T. Sieben, Chairman