News Release

Jane Kister Appointed Executive Editor of Mathematical Reviews

For More Information, Please Contact: Allyn Jackson, (401) 455-4109, (401) 331-3842 (fax), axj@ams.org

For immediate release

On July 1, Jane Kister became Executive Editor of Mathematical Reviews, one of the most important and complex publications of the AMS. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, MR publishes reviews of books and articles in all areas of mathematical sciences research. The material covered in MR represents virtually all of the worldwide mathematical sciences literature. The reviews are written by a corps of about 13,000 reviewers scattered all over the globe. MR is available through several different media, including through the web product, MathSciNet. As Executive Editor, Kister will oversee a 70-person staff which will process as many as 67,000 books and articles this year. She succeeds R. Keith Dennis, who has finished his term as Executive Editor and in the fall will return to his position as professor of mathematics at Cornell University.

Kister has worked at MR for nearly twenty years. She received her PhD in mathematical logic from Oxford University in 1972 and was on the faculty there until she became an Associate Editor at MR in 1979. In 1984, she moved up to the position of Associate Executive Editor. While the many changes in electronic publishing technology pose significant challenges for MR, Kister does not intend to lose sight of its core mission. She says, ``My first priority is to make sure that MR goes on doing what it has done so well: producing a high quality database of reviews and listings providing comprehensive coverage of the mathematical research literature.''