Notices of the American Mathematical Society
Welcome to the current issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society.
With support from AMS membership, we are pleased to share the journal with the global mathematical community.
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- Volume 72 | Number 5 | May 2025
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AMS Updates
Departments Coordinate Job Offer Deadlines
For the past 24 years, the American Mathematical Society has led the effort to gain broad endorsement for the following proposal:
That mathematics departments and institutes agree not to require a response prior to a certain date (usually around February 1 of a given year) to an offer of a postdoctoral position that begins in the fall of that year.
This proposal is linked to an agreement made by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that the recipients of the NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships would be notified of their awards, at the latest, by the end of January.
This agreement ensures that our young colleagues entering the postdoctoral job market have as much information as possible about their options before making a decision. It also allows departmental hiring committees adequate time to review application files and make informed decisions. From our perspective, this agreement has worked well and has made the process more orderly. There have been very few negative comments. Last year, more than 185 mathematics and applied mathematics departments and institutes endorsed the agreement.
Therefore, we propose that mathematics departments again collectively enter into the same agreement for the upcoming cycle of recruiting, with the deadline set for Monday, February 10, 2025. The NSF’s Division of Mathematical Sciences has already agreed that it will complete its review of applications and notify all applicants no later than Friday, January 31, 2025.
The American Mathematical Society facilitated the process by sending an email message to all doctoral-granting mathematics and applied mathematics departments and mathematics institutes. The list of departments and institutes endorsing this agreement will be widely announced on the AMS website and is updated weekly through January.
We ask that you view a proposed updated version of last year’s formal agreement at http://www.ams.org/employment/postdoc-offers.html along with this year’s list of adhering departments.
Important: To streamline this year’s process for all involved, we ask that you notify the AMS (postdoc-deadline@ams.org) if and only if:
- (1)
Your department is not listed and you would like to be listed as part of the agreement;
or
- (2)
Your department is listed and you would like to withdraw from the agreement and be removed from the list.
Please feel free to email us with questions and concerns. Thank you for consideration of the proposal.
—John Meier, AMS Chief Executive Officer
—Sarah Bryant, AMS Director of Programs
“Hidden Figures” Awarded Congressional Gold Medals; AMS Attends Ceremony
On September 18, 2024, the women known as mathematical science’s “Hidden Figures” were awarded Congressional Gold Medals, the US legislature’s highest honor.
The ceremony in Emancipation Hall at the US Capitol honored Katherine Johnson, Dr. Christine Darden, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and “all of the women who contributed to the success of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the Space Race.”
Remarks from elected officials included those from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (MO-23) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8). Margot Lee Shetterly (author of the book Hidden Figures) also spoke, and Audra McDonald sang “America the Beautiful.”
“There are so many instances where significant contributions are not widely visible, very often due to biases and an unwillingness to confront them,” said AMS CEO John Meier, who attended the ceremony. “As the citation states, these four women were extraordinary, and they represent many more individuals who have made and are making contributions that will have a lasting impact even if they are not as widely known.”
Signed into law in November 2019, the Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act called for:
- •
one Congressional Gold Medal to Katherine Johnson, in recognition of her service to the United States as a mathematician;
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one Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Christine Darden, for her service to the United States as an aeronautical engineer;
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two Congressional Gold Medals in commemoration of the lives of Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, in recognition of their service to the United States during the Space Race;
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and one gold medal in recognition of all the women who served as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) between the 1930s and the 1970s.
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30) and Senator Chris Coons (DE) introduced the bill in the House and Senate respectively in February 2019. The AMS endorsed the bill and the AMS Office of Government Relations, based in Washington, DC, worked to get the bill passed into law.
“The AMS was overjoyed when President Trump signed the Hidden Figures Law Act awarding Congressional Gold Medals to recognize the mathematical work and impressive personal achievements of ’Hidden Figures’ Christine Darden, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan,” said Karen Saxe, senior vice president, AMS Office of Government Relations. Shortly after the President signed the bill into law, DC-based AMS staff members attended a reception at the US Capitol to celebrate the Black women who worked in the computer pool at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory.
“Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions,” according to the US House of Representatives. Each medal honors a particular individual, institution, or event.
Beginning with General George Washington, the first Congressional Gold Medal recipients included citizens who participated in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War. Over time, Congress broadened the scope of the medal to include actors, artists, authors, entertainers, musicians, pioneers in aeronautics and space, explorers, lifesavers, notables in science and medicine, athletes, humanitarians, public servants, and foreign recipients.
—AMS Communications
Counted Out Screening at JMM 2025
To be screened at JMM 2025 in Seattle, the documentary film Counted Out explores today’s most pressing crises—political polarization, racial biases, social injustice, economic inequity, climate change, and a global pandemic—through the lens of math.
The film reveals how systemic inequities use math as a gatekeeper, while also highlighting math’s role as a foundation for democracy and opportunity. Dedicated to civil rights leader Bob Moses, Counted Out features some of Moses’ final interviews, illustrating his belief in math access as a civil rights issue.
Following the screening, a panel discussion will feature the film’s director, Vicki Abeles; Karen Saxe, senior vice president, AMS Government Relations; Jordan S. Ellenberg, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dan Finkel, Math For Love; and Talithia Williams, Harvey Mudd College. The film screening is presented by the Julia Robinson Math Festival and will be held on Wednesday, January 8, 2025.
—AMS Communications