Mathematical Association of America

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Revision as of 00:54, 2 October 2006 by Richard L. Peterson (Talk | contribs)

(diff) ← Older revision | Current revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on undergraduate mathematics education. Members include teachers at the college and high school level; graduate and undergraduate students; and mathematicians and scientists. It sponsors the annual Putnam Competition, whose winners not infrequently go on to win Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it may be best known as publisher of technical and popular mathematics books, as well as five journals aimed at mathematicians and educators, and for sponsoring light-hearted but nontrivial exercises such as building mathematical surfaces out of Lego bricks.

MAA is one of the three parts of the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM).

MAA publishes multiple journals:

The MAA sponsors the annual summer MathFest and cosponsors (with the American Mathematical Society) the Joint Mathematics Meetings, held in early January of each year. Twenty-nine sections (regional affiliates) also hold regular meeings.

The MAA sponsors numerous competitions for students, including the Putnam exam for undergraduate students, and the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) for middle- and high-school students. The AMC program also includes the American Invitational Mathematics Examinations and the United States Mathematics Olympiad. Through this program, outstanding students are identified and invited to participate in the Mathematics Olympiad Summer Program. Ultimately, six high school students are chosen to represent the U.S. at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

MAA is one of four partners in the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM, http://www.jpbm.org/index.html), and participates in the Conference Board for the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS, http://www.cbmsweb.org/), an umbrella organization of sixteen professional societies.