Other AMS Sessions
MAA-SIAM-AMS Hrabowski-Gates-Tapia-McBay Session, organized by Ricardo Cortez, Tulane University; Wednesday, 9:00–10:20 am. The Hrabowski-Gates-Tapia-McBay Session is named after four influential scientists of color: (1) Freeman Hrabowski, President of the University of Maryland at Baltimore County; (2) James S. Gates, University of Maryland, College Park; (3) Richard Tapia, Rice University; and (4) Shirley McBay, President of Quality Education for Minorities (QEM). Through multiple mechanisms, these Sessions expect to facilitate and accelerate the participation of scientists in the building of sustainable communities of mathematicians and mathematical scientists. In particular, the intention is to systematically recruit, welcome, encourage, mentor, and support individuals from underrepresented groups in the USA. This year the session will consist of a lecture at 9:00 am given by Talithia Williams, Harvey Mudd College, Mathematics for the masses, and a short panel discussion after the talk at 9:50 am. The 2018 panel will focus on Access to Quality Mathematics by All. Panelists and attendees will discuss issues related to removing roadblocks in mathematics education (e.g. Tracking, placement, ‘weed out’ courses, etc) as well as hiring or award selection practices that tend to favor the majority groups that have influence. Panelists will also address the question: What are the roles and responsibilities do mathematicians and mathematics educators have in creating a just and accessible system? Panelists will include Ron Buckmire, NSF; James Alvarez, University of Texas at Arlington; and Talithia Williams, Harvey Mudd College. This event is sponsored by the MAA Committee on Minority Participation in Mathematics, SIAM and the AMS.
AMS Committee on Meetings and Conferences: Collaborative Research Communities in Mathematics, Wednesday, 2:00–3:30 pm. The aim of this panel is to discuss various models of collaborative research communities in mathematics. An example of such a community is the Mathematical Research Communities (MRC) Program. his program has been run by the American Mathematical Society since 2008, with the intention of bringing together peridoctoral stage mathematicians (near Ph. D. degree) to work in a collaborative environment and helping nurture research, professional relationships and career paths. Amongst topics the panel will discuss are: best practices from successful research collaboration programs; raising awareness of the MRC program within the mathematical community and practical advice for writing successful MRC proposals. The moderator will be Irina Mitrea, Temple University. Panelists include Sam Ballas, Florida State University; Ruth Charney, Brandeis University; Brian Conrey, American Institute of Mathematics; and Satayan Devadoss, University of San Diego.
AMS Committee on the Profession Panel Discussion: Paths to Collaboration with Scientists. This panel will discuss how individual mathematicians have redirected efforts into collaborations with scientists. The goal will be to help mathematicians who are interested in developing collaborations with scientists understand how this might be done. The moderator will be Hal Sadofsky, University of Oregon, and the panelists will be Gunnar Carlsson, Stanford University; Michelle DeDeo, University of North Florida; John Lowengrub, University of California, Irvine; Ellen Panagiotou, University of California, Santa Barbara; and Ruth Williams, University of California, San Diego; Wednesday, 4:30–6:00 pm.`
AMS Education and Diversity Department Panel: Strategies for Diversifying Graduate Mathematics Programs, organized by Helen G. Grundman, American Mathematical Society; Wednesday, 6:30-8:00 pm. Graduate programs wanting to diversify may find that there are very few students from underrepresented groups who satisfy their admissions criteria. This panel will discuss ways in which admissions criteria may be leading us away from strong students with non-standard records, ways to find and recruit these students, and methods for increasing the success rate of these ‘undervalued’ applicants, both through helping the students adapt to the programs and through helping the programs adapt to the students. Moderator for this panel will be Helen G. Grundman, American Mathematical Society. Panelists are Edray Goins, Purdue University, Richard Laugesen, University of Illinois, Richard McGehee, University of Minnesota, and Katrin Wehrheim, University of California, Berkeley.
AMS Informational Session: Report on the findings of the 2015 CBMS survey of undergraduate mathematical and statistical sciences in the US, organized by Jim Maxwell, American Mathematical Society; Thursday, 11:00 am–12:00 pm. Presenter for this session will be Ellen Kirkman, Wake Forest University.
AMS Committee on Education Panel Discussion: Preparing mathematics students for non-academic careers, organized by Erica Flapan, Pomona College; Manmohan Kaur, Benedictine University; Douglas Mupasiri, University of Northern Iowa and Diana White, University of Colorado-Denver; Thursday, 1:00–2:30 pm.
AMS-MAA Joint Committee on TAs and Part-Time Instructors Panel: Teaching-Focused Faculty at Research Institutions, organized by Angela Kubena, University of Michigan; Jean Marie Linhart, Central Washington University; Tom Roby, University of Connecticut; and Michael Weingart, Rutgers University; Thursday, 2:30–3:55 pm. It is increasingly common that a portion of the teaching at research universities is done by full-time teaching-focused faculty (TFF). These faculty are not asked to do research but instead are asked to take on an expanded role in helping the department carry out its teaching. This session will discuss issues around this development, from how such faculty may be supported to issues of evaluating faculty whose primary role is teaching and integrating them into a department culture that is focussed on research. Moderator for this panel will be Tom Roby, University of Connecticut. Panelists are Amy Cohen, Rutgers University, John Eggers, University of California San Diego, Ellen Golstein, Boston College, Robin Gottlieb, Harvard University, and Amit Savkar, University of Connecticut. This panel is sponsored by the AMS-MAA Joint Committee on TAs and Part-Time Instructors.
SIAM-MAA-AMS Panel on Multiple Paths to Mathematics Careers in Business, Industry and Government (BIG), organized by C. Allen Butler, Daniel H Wagner Associates, Rachel Levy, Harvey Mudd College, Douglas Mupasiri, University of Northern Iowa, Karen Saxe, American Mathematical Society, and Suzanne Weekes, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Thursday, 2:35-3:55 pm. The proportion of new mathematics doctoral recipients who are taking jobs in business, industry and government (BIG) is growing. Still, many mathematics PhD programs do not include preparation for non-academic career options as part of their standard curriculum. At this panel, you will have the opportunity to hear about multiple career paths to employment in BIG. Panelists will share (a) what they wish they had known and done as graduate students/postdocs, (b) what you can do at your career stage if you are interested in making connections with business, industry or government, and (c) what suggestions they have for math doctoral programs to increase preparedness of their students for work in BIG. The moderator for this panel will be Rachel Levy, Harvey Mudd College and SIAM. Panelists are Joe Callender, Ernst & Young, Skip Garibaldi, Center for Communications Research, La Jolla, Genetha Gray, Intel, Tasha Inniss, INFORMS, Former Deputy Division Director, NSF/HRD, Rolando Navarro, Jr., Options Clearing Corporation, and Bryan Williams, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. Co-sponsors for this panel are AMS, MAA BIG SIGMAA, and SIAM Education Committee.
AMS Forum, sponsored by the US National Committee for Mathematics: ICM 2018 in Rio de Janeiro - The First International Congress of Mathematicians in the Southern Hemisphere, organized and presented by Marcelo Viana, Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada will present; Thursday, 7:30–8:30 pm.
Grad School Fair, Friday, 8:30–10:30 am. Here is the opportunity for undergrads to meet representatives from mathematical sciences graduate programs from universities all over the country. January is a great time for juniors to learn more, and college seniors may still be able to refine their search. This is your chance for one-stop shopping in the graduate school market. At last year’s meeting over 300 students met with representatives from 60 graduate programs. If your school has a graduate program and you are interested in participating, for US\$125 a table will be provided for your posters and printed materials (registration for this event must be made by a person already registered for the JMM), and you are welcome to personally speak to interested students. Complimentary coffee will be served. Co-sponsored by the AMS and MAA.
AMS Panel: Historical Chief Editors of the "Notices", organized by Frank Morgan, American Mathematical Society; Friday, 9:00–10:30 am. A panel of current and past chief editors of the AMS Notices—Hugo Rossi, Harold Boas, Andy Magid, and Frank Morgan—offer brief remarks and take questions.
AMS-MAA Joint Committee on TAs and Part-Time Instructors Panel: Panel on The Experiences of Foreign Graduate Students as GTAs, organized by John Boller, University of Chicago, Solomon Friedberg, Boston College, Edward Richmond, Oklahoma State University; Friday, 1:00–2:30 pm. Foreign graduate students make up a significant fraction of all math graduate students. When they serve as GTAs, these students must not only learn how to take on the role of teacher, but must do so in a system and culture that are unfamiliar to them. The goal of this session is to highlight the unique challenges that foreign graduate students encounter as GTAs so that the math community can better help them succeed. The panelists will draw from their own previous experiences as students living in the US for the first time as graduate students, and will offer their perspectives on what is most helpful in supporting similar students as they take on teaching responsibilities in the US The moderator for this panel will be Solomon Friedberg, Boston College. Panelists will be composed of current graduate students and recent PhDs who lived in North America for the first time as graduate students. This panel is sponsored by the AMS-MAA Joint Committee on TAs and Part-Time Instructors
Current Events Bulletin, organized by David Eisenbud, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute; Friday, 1:00 pm–5:00 pm. Speakers in this session follow the model of the Bourbaki Seminars in that mathematicians with strong expository skills speak on work not their own. Written versions of the talks will be distributed at the meeting and will also be available online at www.ams.org/ams/current-events-bulletin.html after the conclusion of the meeting.
AMS Committee on Science Policy Panel Discussion: Funding at Federal Agencies & Advocacy for Grassroots Support, organized by Karen Saxe, AMS, and Scott Wolpert, University of Maryland; Friday, 2:30–4:00 pm. Panelists are Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-9), U. S. House of Representatives, Charlie Toll, National Security Agency; and Michael Vogelius, Rutgers University.
Congressional Fellowship Session, organized by Karen Saxe, American Mathematical Society; Friday, 4:30– 6:30 pm. This fellowship provides a public policy learning experience, demonstrates the value of science-government interaction and brings a technical background and external perspective to the decision-making process in Congress. earn more about this program and speak with current and former AMS Fellows. Margaret Callahan, AMS Congressional Fellow 2017-18, will speak at this session. Application deadline for the 2018–19 AMS Congressional Fellowship is February 15, 2018.
Who Wants to Be a Mathematician Championship, organized by Michael A. Breen, American Mathematical Society, and William T. Butterworth, DePaul University; Saturday, 1:00 pm–2:45 pm. Show your support for top high school students from the US, Canada, and the UK in the first international Who Wants to Be a Mathematician as they compete for a US\$5,000 first prize for themselves and US\$5,000 for their school’s math department. Semifinals are at 1:00 pm and finals are at 2:00 pm. Come match wits with the contestants and support their mathematical achievement.