| American Mathematical Society | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1888 |
| Headquarters | Providence, RI |
| Membership | 32,000 |
| President | George E. Andrews |
| Website | www.ams.org |
The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.
The society is one of the four parts of the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) and a member of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS).
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It was founded in 1888 as the New York Mathematical Society, the brainchild of Thomas Fiske who was impressed by the London Mathematical Society on a visit to England. John Howard Van Amringe was the first president and Fiske became secretary. The society soon decided to publish a journal, but ran into some resistance, due to concerns about competing with the American Journal of Mathematics. The result was the Bulletin of the New York Mathematical Society, with Fiske as editor-in-chief. The de facto journal, as intended, was influential in increasing membership.
In July, 1894, the society reorganized under its present name and became a national society. In 1951, the headquarters moved from New York City to Providence, Rhode Island. The society added an office in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1984 and an office in Washington, D.C. in 1992.
The popularity of the Bulletin soon led to Transactions of the American Mathematical Society and Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, which were also de facto journals. It was not until 1988 that the Journal of the American Mathematical Society was created, with the intent of being the flagship journal of the AMS.
The Society makes an effort to improve the quality of mathematics teaching in the US. For example, in 1954 it called for the creation of a new teaching degree, a Doctor of Arts in Mathematics, similar to a PhD but without a research thesis.[1]
The AMS, along with the Mathematical Association of America and other organizations, holds the largest annual research mathematics meeting in the world, the Joint Mathematics Meeting held in early January. The 2008 Joint Mathematics Meeting drew a record 5500 attendees. Each of the four regional sections of the AMS (Central, Eastern, Southeastern and Western) hold meetings in the spring and fall of each year. The society also co-sponsors meetings with other international mathematical societies.
The AMS publishes Mathematical Reviews, a database of reviews of mathematical publications, various journals, and books. In 1997 the AMS acquired the Chelsea Publishing Company, which it continues to use as an imprint.
Journals:
Some prizes are awarded jointly with other mathematical organizations. See specific articles for details.
The AMS was an early advocate of the typesetting program TeX, requiring that contributions be written in it and producing its own packages AMS-TeX and AMS-LaTeX. TeX and LaTeX are now ubiquitous in mathematical publishing.
The AMS is led by the President, who is elected for a two-year term, and cannot serve for two consecutive terms.[2]
This article incorporates material from American Mathematical Society on PlanetMath, which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.