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April 1987 Council MinutesAPRIL 1987 COUNCIL MINUTESThe Council met in the Monmouth Room of the Hilton Gateway Hotel in Newark, NJon 25 April 1987 at 7:00 PM. Members present were R.A. Askey, H. Bass, W.W.Comfort, R.G. Douglas, J.P. Gilman, H.C. Hsiang, J.B. Keller, I. Kra, H.B.Lawson, M. Lowengrub, G.D. Mostow, A. Odlyzko, F.P. Peterson, E. Pitcher, M.B. Pour-El, M. Rieffel, C. Sadosky, E.L. Stout, J.E. Taylor, A. Terra, K. Uhlenbeck, W.A. Veech, D.A. Vogan, Jr., R. F. Williams, and C. Wood. Alsopresent were R.G. Bartle, R. Hahn, K.M. Hoffman, W.J. LeVeque, J.W. Maxwell,and J.A. Voytuk. The privilege of the floor was granted at various times toL. Garnett, J. Polking, L. Keen, M. Shub, and W. Thurston. Presdient Mostowwas in the chair. MINUTESl.l MINUTES OF 20 JANUARY 1987. The paragraph at the top of P. 9 should bereplaced by the following: Regarding question 2, the EC/BT of 20-22 November 1986 set the registration fee at grant-supported conferences in 1987 at $10.00.With this correction the minutes were approved.1.2 MINUTES OF 19 FEBRUARY 1987: This minute, attached, records the electionof Irwin Kra to the EC. It was approved.At this point, the President recognized Professor Sadosky, who entered aprotest over the fact that the Council meeting and a lecture sponsored by theAssociation for Women in Mathematics had been scheduled at the same time, thusdepriving Council members of the lecture. When Associate Secretary W. WistarComfort arrived a few minutes later he explained the alternatives that hadbeen offered to AWM, from which they had chosen.C OMMITTEES AND BOARDS4.1 COMMITTEE AND SCIENCE POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS: The Committee on SciencePolicy formulated four recommendations for presentation to the Council: 1. That the Council instruct the Managing Editor of the NOTICES and the Chairman of the NOTICES Editorial Committee to open its pages for comment related to two motions considered at the business meeting of 22 January, 1987. (See the NOTICES for January, Page 76, or for February in the Secretary's report on the business meeting, pp. 398-399.) 2. That the Council declare its intent to hold a referendum after the 1988 Annual Meeting on the substance of the two motions or on broader issues of federal funding of research in mathematics. 3. That the Council invite the sponsors of the two motions to support the referendum by moving to table the two motions in favor of the referendum. 4. That the Council charge the Committee on Science Policy to supervise the formulation of the motions on the referendum for presentation to the Council for it approval.The Council debated these at length, mostly in committee of the whole. Acommittee consisting of Professor Douglas, Kra, and Taylor produced analternative later in the meeting. With slight alteration, the Council approvedthe alternative. The Secretary had edited it to make it clearer to the uninitiated because item 6 calls for publication. This is the version toappear as part of an announcement in the NOTICES for June l987. 1. The Council instructs the Managing Editor of the NOTICESand the chairman of the NOTICES Editorial Committee to open its pagesfor comment related to two motions considered at the Business Meetingof 22 January, 1987. 2. The Council instructs the officers of the AMS to hold a mailballot of the membership, after the January 1988 annual meeting, but beforeFebruary 1988, on the substance of the two motions concerning issues of federal funding of research in mathematics. 3. The Council at its meeting of 4 August 1987 will adopt thespecific wording of the motions to appear on the mail ballot. The President is requested to distribute drafts of these motions asearly as possible to the Council for comment and criticism. 4. The Committee on Science Policy is requested to submit to the Maymeeting of the EC/BT its suggested wording for these motions. Other interestedgroups are also encouraged to submit possible wording to that EC/BT meeting. 5. The Council of 4 August 1987 should decide whether to recommendthat the Business Meeting table the two motions before it in view of theupcoming mail ballot. 6. The NOTICES of June 1987 should include a prominent announcementof the plans above.The order of business was interrupted at 9:30 PM for an executive session thatextended until 10:50. Items 4.5 and 4.6 were handled during the executivesession.4.2 AUTOMATIC THEOREM PROVING: The Fredkin Foundation of Cambridge, MA,through the Carnegie Mellon University and the good offices of Dr. Raj Reddy,has established three prizes in Automatic Theorem Proving. They are: l. Leibniz Prize "for the proof of a 'substantial' theorem in which the computer played a major role." 2. Milestone Prize "for foundational work in ATP". 3. Current Prize "for ongoing research [in ATP] that shows promise."The Society was asked to administer the prizes. The Council had agreed thatthe Society should appoint a committee to administer the Leibniz Prize and tostudy the proposal with respect to the Current and Milestone Prizes. TheCommittee, consisting of David Mumford, Chairman, Jack Schwartz, and JohnSelfridge, reported. It had no recommendation with respect to the Leibniz Prize at this time. There are four recommendations with respect to the Currentand Milestone Prizes in the attached report. The first is that the Society undertake the responsibility for these two prizes subject to the approval ofProfessor Woodrow W. Bledsoe and the Fredkin Foundation, which the Secretarysecured. The third and fourth are procedural.The Council approved the four recommendations. 4.3 TERMS OF JOURNAL EDITORS: The Editorial Committee of the Journal of the AMS proposed that the terms of the editors be three years with the possibilityof re-election. In order to establish an equitable rotation of membership,they also proposed that the initial appointments terminate in December of theindicated year as listed below. Artin 1991 Lawson 1990 Melrose 1989 Schmid 1989 Tarjan 1991The Council approved. 4.4 RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP: The EC of 20-22 November 1986 recommended thatbeginning with the fellowshps of 1988 the name be changed to the AmericanMathematical Society Centennial Fellowships. The Council approved. 4.5 NOMINATIONS: The Council made the following nominations for the electionof 1987.President Elect: William BrowderVice President James G. Glimm(2 positions) Barry Simon William P. ThurstonAssociate Secretary: Andy Roy Magid(2 positions) Lance W. SmallTrustee: Frederick W. GehringMember-at-Large: Richard W. Beals(5 positions) Johnny E. Brown Lawrence Craig Evans Albert Marden Diana Frost Shelstad Donald Solitar Harold M. StarkThe Council further made the following nominations to certain committees.Editorial Committees Bulletin Roger E. HoweColloquium Raoul H. BottMathematical Reviews Hans F. WeinbergerMathematical Surveys M. Susan MontgomeryMathematics of Computation Donald GoldfarbProceedings Frederick R. Cohen Barbara L. Keyfitz George C. Papanicolaou Jonathan M. Rosenberg James E. West Warren J. WongTransactions & Memoirs James E. Baumgartner Roger D. Nussbaum Carl PomeranceCommittee to Monitor Prob. in Communication Richard S. PalaisIt was understood that these nominations were conditional in that each nomineeis required to be a member. The Secretary is to verify membership.The Council requested the Nominating Committee to propose one more candidatefor vice-president and one more for the Committee to Monitor Problems inCommunication.In the course of considering proposed nominations, the possible nomination of aTrustee simultaneously to be vice-president was rejected and the suggestionmade that a person holding one office should not be nominated for another. [TheSecretary notes, however, that there is repeated precedent for holding twoelective offices at the same time.] It was proposed that the NominatingCommittee be advised not to nominate an individual who has recently lost anelection for that office. [Again the Secretary notes precedent to thecontrary.] The Council frowned on the prospect of nominating a member of theNominating Committee to be a candidate in a contested election. 4.6 TRANSACTIONS EDITOR: Robert D. Edwards submitted his resignation from theEditorial Committee of the Transactions and the Council. The Council acceptedthe resignation.The Editorial Committee had appointed James W. Cannon to be associate editor tocover the field formerly covered by Edwards. The Committee recommended thatCannon be elected to the Editorial Committee of the Transactions and Memoirs.The term extends through 1989. The Council elected Cannon to the EditorialCommittee of the Transactions and Memoirs subject to the approval of theTrustees.OFFICERS 5.1 REPORT OF THE TREASURER. The auditor's report appeared subsequent to themeeting of the Council and is attached to these minutes.5.2 RETIRING PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: Ex-President Irving Kaplansky requested theindulgence of the Council so that he may give his retiring presidential addressat a somewhat later time than that suggested in the bylaws. The Councilreadily acceded. NEW BUSINESS: 9.1 EDITORIAL BOARDS: In the attached letter, Irwin Kra proposed that thesystem of selecting editors be changed so that editors are appointed by anelected Editorial Board Appointments Committee. The Council referred thematter to the EC. 9.2 GOVERNMENT SPEAKER: It has been observed that the Government Speaker doesnot draw well when not properly publicized. This is an embarrassment when arepresentative of distinction has been importuned to speak, as in San Antonio.Proper publicity requires that the speaker be listed in the preliminaryannouncement. It has been proposed that no government speaker be scheduled ifnone has been secured by the time that the preliminary announcement goes topress. The Council referred the matter to the Committee on Sciencer Policy. 9.3 NOMINATION BY PETITION: At the request of the Executive Committee of theAssociation for Women in Mathematics, Professor Cora Sadosky moved that theCouncil rescind the action of the Council of 20 January 1987 that limitsrepeated nomination by petition. A statement from AWM is attached. The motionfailed. 9.4 SOME MATHEMATICAL QUESTIONS IN BIOLOGY: For many years the Society, sometimes in cooperation with SIAM, has sponsored a symposium with that titleat the annual meeting of AAAS. Attendence has been decreasing and AAAS is nolonger receptive. On the other hand, the symposia produce a good book seriesand societies of specialists in biology are interested. Specifically, itappears that the Society and the Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB), withor without SIAM, could find it practical to sponsor the symposium, meeting inalternate years with the Federation of American Societies for ExperimentalBiology (FASEB) and the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS).Much larger attendance in these locations is predicted compared with theformer arrangements with AAAS. The suggestion for the change of venue aroseinformally with representatives of SMB, FASEB, and AIBS. the ExecutiveDirector has been authroized to explore the possibilities. The Councilapproved the change in location of this established series subject to theapproval of the arrangements by the Trustees. INFORAMTION AND RECORD 2.1 PROCEEDINGS EDITORS: The Council was informed that the PROCEEDINGS intendsthat each article carry a notation of the name of the editor who accepts it. 2.2 RESEARCH FELLLOWSHPS: In the recent competition, fellowships were awardedto Richard M. Hain of the University of Washington and William B. Jacob ofOregon State University.EXECUTIVE SESSION OF 25 APRIL 1987 OLD BUSINESSThis item was handled in two parts, the first being in open meeting to give visitors an opportunity to express opinions. 8.1 JOINT POLICY BOARD FOR MATHEMATICS. This organization is a consortiumof AMS, MAA and SIAM. It maintains the "Washington Presence" through anofficer whose current title is Head, Office of Governmental and Public Affairs,but initially and provisionally was Coordinator of Federal Relations for theMathematical Sciences.When the Society entered into this consortium, the Council passed the followingresolution on 7 August 1983. That the Council endorse the creation of the office of Coordinator of Federal Relations for Mathematics. Any AMS financial commitments must be approved by the AMS Trustees. The Council charges the Committee on Science Policy to evaluate the performance of the office, to advise the President thereon, to report its findings to the Council not later than its January 1985 meeting, and to make recommendations at that time regarding the continuation of the office. Should the office be continued, no one person shall serve longer than four years as its head.It is the last sentence of the resolution that was brought up for considerationinasmuch as 1987 is the fourth year of incumbency of Kenneth Hoffman.The operation of JPBM is monitored by the Directors Committee, consisting ofthe executive directors of the three organizations. The Agenda & BudgetCommittee, which is a planning committee for the EC/BT, also reviewed theproblem.The Directors Committee approved the following motion directed to JPBM. In view of what we believe to be Kenneth Hoffman's overall effectiveness in advancing the goals of AMS, MAA, and SIAM, the Directors Committee of JPBM urges that he be continued as Head of the Office of Governmental and Public Affairs at least through 1988, to maintain momentum and ensure continuity. The Committee also urges that each of the three sponsoring societies avoid taking unilateral actions with respect to the Office, to the maximum extent possible, recognizing that the office is an arm of JPBM.The ABC endorsed the position in the motion of the Directors and recommendedthe following Proposed Motion.Proposed Motion: The Council rescinds its action of 7 August 1983 that limits the tenure of a person in the office provisionally known as Coordinator of Federal Relations and now called Head, Office of Governmental and Public Affairs.The Council however, passed the following two motions. First, the Councilagree to suspend the limit on the term of the office of the Head, Office ofGovernmental and Public Affairs and to recommend extension of the term ofKenneth Hoffman at least through 1988. The Council further recommended theformation of a joint committee of the members of JPBM to study the appropriatetenure of that office. Second, the Council agreed that every four years,beginning in 1988, a subcommittee of the Council is to review the functioningof the office of Governmental and Public Affairs and of its impact and is toreport to the Council. Everett Pitcher Secretary |
