January 1976 Council Minutes
MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING DATED JANUARY 2l, 1976
The Council met on January 2l, 1976 at 2:00 PM in the LaVista Room
of the Hilton Palacio del Rio in San Antonio. Members present were H. Bass,
P. Bateman, L. Bers, R.H. Bing, P. Church, C. Curtis, C. Davis, S. Eilenberg,
R. Fossum, W. Gautschi, R. Goldberg, M. Gary, J. Green, P. Griffiths, O.
Harrold, A. Householder, H. Keller, R. Kirby, L. Lorch, R. Miller, J. Milnor,
K. Norton, B. Osofsky, F. Peterson, E. Pitcher, M. Protter, H. Rossi, L. Rubel,
r. Seeley, S. Shatz, B. Simon, I. Singer, O. Taussky, D. Waterman, H.
Weinberger, G. Weiss, J. E. Wilkins, Jr. Also present were L. Durst, R. Hahn,
K. McConaghy, G. L. Walker. The privilege of the floor was given at various
times to E. Dubinsky, M. Gerstenhaber, W. LeVeque, A. Mattuck, P. Mostert.
President Bers was in the chair.
From 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM and from l0:00 PM until adjournment, the
Council was in executive session. The Secretary was not in attendance at those
times. Associate Secretary Orville Harrold served as Acting Secretary, having
been so designated by the Secretary according to Article IV, Section 3, of the
bylaws.
The minutes of the meeting of August l7, 1975 previously circulated by
mail, were approved.
The Trustees had asked the Council to relax the prohibition of
advertising interspersed with the text of the NOTICES to the point of allowing
advertisements of Society publications to be placed in advantageous positions.
The Council acceded.
Professor Samuel Eilenberg, Chairman of the Editorial Committee for the
Colloquium Publications raised two questions with respect to the lectures.
First, how many should there be and second, how should they be scheduled?
Up until l927 there were two or three lecturers, but not in every year. From
l928 to 1953 there was one lecturer per year (two years were skipped, followed
in each case by two lecturers the next year). From then until l967, there was
one lecturer in each of three years, the fourth being skipped for the
International Congress. From 1968 on there have been two lecturers (excepting
one in winter of l970 and l974) and in l973 and l975 there were three. The
current pattern, which the Committee questioned, is one lecturer in January and
two in August except in years of a Congress.
Since about l930 the lectures have been sets of four one-hour lectures.
Many, but not all lecturers present a survey of general interest in a first
lecture aimed at a large audience and speak to specialists in the rest of the
series. However, there are those who prefer a single linearly ordered
discourse. When it was decided by the Council, following the recommendation of
the Colloquium Comm., to have two lecturers at the same summer meeting, it was
the stated plan that the lecturers would be so chosen that their specialties
would have an empty intersection of natural audiences. Thus it would be
possible to schedule lectures number one at separate times but numbers two or
four simultaneously without conflict. This has not appeared to be totally
satisfactory (there even being one case where the lecturers wished to hear each
other). It has sometimes been possible to schedule all four lectures, or at
least more than one, of the two series at different times.
On a motion by Prof. Eilenberg, the Council agreed that there should be
one Colloquium Lecturer per Summer or Annual Meeting.
On a second motion by Prof. Eilenberg, the Council agreed that there
should be no conflict on the program with any of the lecturers in a set of
Colloquium Lectures. It was noted, though not embodied in the motion, that the
Associate Secretary may assign times to the Colloquium Lectures that he deems
appropriate and that the Committee should impress on the speaker the
educational aspect of the lectures for generally well informed mathematicians
who are not specialists in the speaker's field.
The Council elected Orville Harrold to another term as representative
of the Society in Section A of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science.
The Council elected Seth Warner and Stephen Orey to continue to
represent the Society on the Editorial Board of the Duke Journal.
The Advisory Committee on the Editorial Policy of the NOTICES reported
that it was divided on the question of publishing the attached article by Mrs.
Hoan Xuan Sinh titled THE TROUBLES OF A WOMAN MATHEMATICIAN. The vote in the
Committee at one point was 3 in favor and 4 opposed. The Committee opposes
the principle of basing decisions on such a division without extending the
discussion and was unable to have a meeting of the entire committee. The
Council passed a motion not to publish the article in the NOTICES.
Prof. Hans Weinberger, Chairman of the Comm. on Steele Prizes, proposed
the following motion:
The President is instructed to appoint an ad hoc committee to
examine the possibility of changing the Steele Prize into a
prize for outstanding mathematical research, to produce a
detailed proposal for such a prize, and to determine the
relationship of this prize to the other prizes awarded by
the Society.
There are two attached documents. One is the "Halmos Plan", a detailed
presentation of the proposal already approved by the Committee and describing
the sort of prize that the ad hoc committee is asked to consider. The other is
the pertinent section of the Steele will.
By agreement, the motion was replaced by a substitute:
The President is requested to appoint an ad hoc committee to consider
the future of the Steele Prize.
The substituted motion was passed.
The Joint Committee on the Employment of Mathematicians in Two Year
Colleges presented the attached report. It includes two recommendations (see
p. 6) for possible endorsement by this Council. The same report was to go to
the Board of Governors of the MAA for their consideration. The Comm. also
asked permission to circulate their report.
The Council approved the report and approved its publication in the
NOTICES, understanding that the report might have substantial editorial
modification at the point of consideration by the Board of Governors and
realizing that it would probably also be published in a journal of the
Association.
Prof. Charles W. Curtis, Chairman of the Comm. on the Emergency
Employment Situation in Math. offered the attached report of the Committee.
Item 6 of the report is a recommendation of the following motion:
The Society should urge research oriented departments to offer
unemployed mathematicians, and mathematicians in jobs with no
research facilities, opportunities to remain associated with
the research community. This can be done by offering such
mathematicians nominal, unpaid research appointments which
would provide office space (when feasible) and access to the
library as well as an opportunity to participate in seminars
and, in general, interact with members of the department.
An amendment to remove the word "nominal" from the text was defeated. Then the
Council approved the recommendation.
The President agreed to write an appropriate letter to research minded
universities and to offer it to the NOTICES.
The Bulletin Editorial Comm. asked permission to appoint up to five
Associate Editors for the purpose of communicating research announcements in
fields which are unrepresented or under-represented among the present
comunicators. The Secretary observed that the Committee has the power to
appoint Associate Editors without further permission of the Council. However,
the Council has taken continued interest in the manner of handling research
announcements, so that this is the issue that is brought to the Council. He
then moved that the question be postponed until after the May l976 meeting of
the Trustees, at which time an ad hoc committee would report on certain aspects
of the publication of the BULLETIN and the NOTICES. The President pointed out
that the proposal of the Editorial Comm. would temporarily relieve the pressure
of limits on publication of research announcements but that the ad hoc comm.
was rethinking the rationale of the BULLETIN and the NOTICES. The motion to
postpone consideration of the question was defeated. Then a motion to
approve the request of the Editorial Comm. was defeated.
The Council reaffirmed its wish to be affiliated with Section A of the
AAAS.
The Council approved sponsorship of the joint AMS-MAA Comm. on Women in
Mathematics by the SIAM at the request of the latter.
The Secretary was requested to congratulate the National Bureau of
Standards and to write the Bureau a letter of appreciation in the name of the
Council on the occasion of their 75th anniversary.
Dr. Karl K. Norton offered a set of seven motions concerning the work
of the Committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure & Employment Security. They are
the following:
1. MOTION: The Council recommends to the Comm. on Academic Freedom,
Tenure & Employment Security that complaints of the following types by
mathematicians be investigated by CAFTES:
(a) An allegation that an unprofessional criterion (other than
financial exigency) was used in making a decision on the complainant's
professional status. (CAFTES is to determine whether the criterion is
unprofessional.)
(b) A complaint that a university administration rejected a
recommendation by the mathematics department concerning appointment,
reappointment, promotion, or tenure, unless the rejection is based on clearly
formulated and compelling reasons to which neither the department nor CAFTES
takes exception.
(c) An allegation that false or distorted information was used in
making a decision on the complainant's professional status.
(d) An allegation that the complainant's academic freedom was violated.
(e) An allegation that the complainant was denied due process within
his institution.
(f) An allegation that the complainant's tenure or contract was
violated.
(g) Any other complaint which, in the judgment of CAFTES, deserves
investigation.
2. MOTION: The Council recommends that any investigation by CAFTES
include a letter of inquiry about the facts to each member of a list of persons
supplied by the complainant. This list may, at the discretion of CAFTES, be
limited to five persons.
3. MOTION: The council recommends that CAFTES give priority to cases
involving denial of reappointment or tenure.
4. MOTION: The Council recommends that in asking a complainant to
furnish evidence supporting his complaint, CAFTES give due consideration to
his degree of access to such evidence.
5. MOTION: The Council recommends that in setting priorities for
investigation and intervention, CAFTES give considerable weight to complainants
achievements in research.
6. MOTION: The Council recommends to the President that CAFTES
consist of at least 6 persons.
7. MOTION: The Council respectfully requests that the Committee on
Dismissed Mathematicians submit a report on its activities from the time of its
inception. This report should be presented in time for discussion at the
Council meeting in the Spring of l976.
He further offered a four page comment, attached, on his motions. The
charge by the Council to CAFTES was very brief and at the time of authorization
of the Comm. the Secretary was requested to amplify it. The letter in which
that was done is attached. The Council, with subsequent amendment and approval
by the Trustees with consent of the Council, specified in detail the relation
between CAFTES and the Legal Aid Comm. That statement is attached also.
Following some general discussion, there seemed to be agreement that
motions l through 6 should be considered by a committee prior to consideration
by the Council. A motion was passed requesting the President to appoint an ad
hoc committee to write rules of operation for the Comm. on Academic Freedom
Tenure, and Employment Security. In so doing, it was understood that the
proposed rules would be brought to the Council for approval. It was agreed
that one or more individuals opposed to the expansion of the charge of CAFTES
should be appointed to the ad hoc committee.
It was agreed to request the Committee on Dismissed Math. to report on
its activities. [The Secretary notes that the Committee, with only a slight
change in name, was established in l954, so that a report on "activities from
the time of its inception" may be difficult. E.P.] The possibility of a
report for the Council meeting of April l976 was suggested.
The Council passed a motion that an individual should not accept more
than one invitation to speak at a special sessions at a single meeting of the
Society. It was suggested, but not incorporated in the formal motion, that
exceptions be referred to the Secretary.
The Council recommended to the Business Meeting of January 23, 1976
that they consider the following resolution:
This Business Meeting of the American Mathematical Society,
concerned by reports that the esteemed mathematician Jose
Luis Massera is in prison and has been held for a considerable
period without trial, calls for his release and the protection
of his human rights.
Information concerning Massera is attached.
The Council recommended to the Business Meeting of January 23, 1976
that they consider the following resolution:
This Business Meeting of the AMS calls for the release from prison of
Professor of Mathematics L.A. Ladyzenskii of the University of Riga.
Information concerning Ladyzenskii is attached.
The Council, on motion of Professor Mary Gray, passed a resolution
requesting that a letter of inquiry be sent to the Ambassador from Spain
concerning the status and reason for expulsion from Spain of Amin Majtar, Prof.
of Algebra, Topology, and Geometry at the University of Malaga.
The attached resolution, marked "2. Motion..." from Professor Lee Lorch
was considered. In committee of the whole it was recommended that the
resolution be rewritten for consideration later in the meeting. The rewritten
version was substituted later in the meeting, with the following text:
The New York Times (August l7, 1975, p. 29B) reported an official
announcement by Admiral Arturo Troncoso, Minister of Education of
Chile that (i) 44 professors, employees and students of the
University of Chile had been arrested for "Marxist activities"
and turned over to military intelligence agents for interrogation,
(ii) a few of these 44 were likely to be released shortly as lacking
serious involvement in such activities, but (iii) all, including any
released, would be dismissed from the University, if employed there,
and expelled, if students.
Among those arreested, we heard subsequently, was Professor Alicia
Alcayaga of the mathematics department. No later information
concerning her has reached us.
The Council of the AMS deplores these arrests and dismissals. It calls
for the release of those arrested and the restoration of those
dismissed or expelled. It requests information concerning the present
fate of Professor Alicia Alcayaga.
The officers of the Society are requested to convey the contents of
this statement to General A. Pinochet, President of the Military of
Education of the Junta, Santiago, General A. Rodriguez, Rector of the
University of Chile, Santiago, and the Chilean Embassy in Washington
requesting a reply from each. Further copies, accompanied by requests
to each recipient to assist us in the objectives listed and to inform
us of their efforts, shall be sent to Dr. Kurt Waldheim, Secretary
General of the United Nations, and Dr. Henry Kissinger, Secretary of
State of the United States, both of whom shall be informed of the list
of other addresses above.
The first three paragraphs were passed as a resolution, while the last
paragraph was received as information by the Officers.
Professor Arthur Mattuck, Chairman of the Committee on External
Membership, presented the attached report and moved the Proposal in the box on
the first page. There was a friendly amendment to clarify the intent of the
Committee by ending the motion with the following paragraph:
Existing reciprocity agreements are to be abolished when the new
membership category is available.
Then there was an amendment proposed by Lee Lorch to delete the paragraph.
After extended debate, it lost. Then the proposal as amended as passed.
It was observed that the bylaws must be amended in order to establish
another class of members and to change voting privileges. The task of drafting
the change was assigned to the Secretary. Then it was observed that the usual
schedule for making a change in the bylaws would preclude the effective
establishment of the new class of membership by January 1, 1977. The Council
then amended the previous resolution to make the effective date be January 1,
1978.
The text of the motion as twice amended is as follows:
The AMS establishes as of January 1, 1978 a new membership category,
"foreign member."
ELIGIBILITY: Any mathematician with a permanent appointment, or
permanently residing, outside the U.S. and Canada may elect to be
a foreign member, rather than an ordinary member.
Ordinary AMS members who are temporarily visiting abroad are
specifically excluded from foreign membership status.
"Temporarily" means up to three years.
RIGHTS: Foreign members have all privileges of ordinary AMS
membership (including journal subscriptions and the right to
present papers at meetings), with the exception of voting
rights, both by mail and at business meetings, which are
reserved for ordinary members.
DUES: FOREIGN MEMBERS NOT RESIDENT IN THE U.S. OR CANADA
DURING MOST OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR IN WHICH THE DUES ARE PAID:
dues to be fixed by the Trustees, but not to exceed 2/3 of
the minimum membership rate for ordinary members. ALL OTHER
FOREIGN MEMBERS: dues same as those for ordinary members.
Existing reciprocity agreements are to be abolished when the
new membership category is available.
Professor Emery Thomas, Chairman of the ad hoc Committee on Committees,
presented the attached report. There was discussion of fractional votes, with
not action. The proposal in Section III on the Editorial Committee of the
NOTICES was amended to read:
The Editorial Board of the NOTICES shall consist of the Executive
Director ex officio without vote, the Secretary ex officio with
vote, and six other voting members with four year terms selected
by the Council in the following manner. Every two years, three
members' terms expire. The Nominating Committee submits a proposed
slate of three to replace them, making an effort to achieve a Board
broadly representative of different viewpoints within the Society
involved in NOTICES policy. The Council may ratify the whole slate,
or else shall elect the three incoming Board members by preferential
ballot. The first occasion when this procedure is followed, the
three continuing members shall be obtained from among the present
(appointed) Board.
This was passed in amended form. Then the report was accepted and the
Committee was discharged with thanks. It was understood that unfinished
business was to be transferred to the standing Committee on Committees.
Professor W.J. LeVeque, Chairman of the Science Policy Committee, spoke
about possible ways to handle government support of research mathematics. A
draft of an earlier position of the Committee is attached to item 39 of the
minutes of the EC/BT of December 5-6, 1975. After discussion, the Council
conducted a straw vote involving forced selection among the proposed methods of
support, described briefly as a new permanent institute, a parapetetic
institute, a large scale postdoctoral fellowship program, and special years.
The choice was narrowed to a preference for special years. It was suggested by
Professor LeVeque and emphasized by Professor Curtis and the President that it
was desirable that members of the Council with views on the issue of government
support of research mathematics make them known in writing on the Committee.
Professor Lee Lorch introduced the attached motion, headed l. Exchange
program ... . It was defeated.
Professor Lorch introduced the attached motion headed 3. Rebuilding
mathematical life in Viet-Nam. It was defeated.
Professor Judy Green inquired about the policy of review by the
Executive Director of copy to be mailed when Society mailing lists are rented.
Item 34 of the minutes of the Ec/BT of December 5-6, 19875 suggests a possible
deviation. Without the formality of a motion, the Exe. Dir. was urged to
continue to follow the policy of review.
At this point the open meeting adjourned.
A report from the AMS-MAA Joint Committee on Women was received and is
attached.
The minutes of the Conference Board of August 2l, 1975 were received
and are attached.
It was noted that the first issue of the Houston Journal of Mathematics
had appeared.
The Tellers of the Election of 1975 presented the attached report.
Although the attachment does not include the write-in votes, there was a
supplement to the report, including that information and distributed to the
pNominating Committee of 1976. there is also an attachment showing the
composition of the Council and of the BT for 1976.
The election of 1975 included a separate election for four places on
the Nominating Committee of 1976. Those elected were:
Phyllis J. Cassidy
Edward B. curtis
Chandler Davis
Raymond O. Wells, Jr.
President Bers appointed:
Armand Borel
Kevin McCrimmon
David A. Sanchez
Dorothy M. Stone
to the Committee. Moreover, Borel agreed to be the Chairman.
At the suggestion of Professor W. Wistar Comfort, past member of the
Editorial Committee of the PROCEEDINGS, his letter of August 25, 1975 to
Associate Editor Norman Blackburn on the subject of blind refereeing was
distributed for information.
A report entitled OVERVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL MATHEMATICS GRADES
K-12 from the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences and the National-
Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education was distributed under separate
cover and is not attached to the minutes.
It was observed that the ED has set meetings of the Council as follows:
New York April ll, 1976
Toronto August 23, 1976
St. Louis January 26, 1977
Evanston April l5, 1977
Attention was called to the fact that the Toronto Meeting in August
1976 does not follow the usual pattern. The first day of scientific sessions
is on August 24, a Tuesday. Moreover, the scientific sessions of the Society
precede those of the Association.
The report of the Committee to Select the Winner of the Veblen Prize,
recommending prizes to:
James Simons
William Thurston
is attached. The EC had approved the awards, acting for the Council.
Adjournment after the second executive session was reported to have
taken place at 12:05 AM.
Everett Pitcher, Secretary
January 2l, 1976