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Special Lectures

The AMS hosts a variety of special lectures at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, sectional meetings, and other conferences. They attract a wide range of participants, from research mathematicians to high school students.

The special lectures include:

  • AMS Arnold Ross Lectures - series of lectures given annually in different parts of the country for talented high school mathematics students. These lectures are intended to illustrate some recent development in mathematical research and stimulate learning outside the classroom.
  • AMS Colloquium Lectures - series of three lectures held on consecutive days during the Joint Mathematics Meetings.
  • AMS Current Events Bulletin Lectures - presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings. Speakers do not report on their own work; they survey some of the most interesting current developments in pure and applied mathematics.
  • AMS Lecture on Education - presented annually at the Joint Mathematics Meetings to address topics with implications for the educational ecosystem at local, regional, or national levels of interest to the AMS membership, including the scholarship of teaching and learning.
  • AMS Einstein Public Lectures in Mathematics - given annually by distinguished mathematicians at one of the eight sectional meetings.
  • AMS Erdős Lecture for Students - annual invited addresses named for the prolific mathematician Paul Erdős and given at the Joint Mathematics Meetings.
  • AMS Gibbs Lectures - public lectures given at the Joint Mathematics Meetings that are intended to enlighten the public about different aspects of mathematics and its applications.
  • AMS Maryam Mirzakhani Lectures - invited addresses given at the Joint Mathematics Meetings to honor Fields medalist Maryam Mirzakhani.
  • AAAS-AMS Lectures - invited addresses given at the Joint Mathematics Meetings to support the mission of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • AMS-MAA Joint Lecture at MathFest - presented at MAA MathFest
  • AMS-MAA-SIAM Gerald and Judith Porter Lectures - presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings
  • AMS Invited Address at SIAM Meetings - presented at SIAM Annual Meetings
  • AMS von Neumann Lecture - presented annually at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in honor of the mathematical legacy of John von Neumann
  • AWM-AMS Noether Lectures - one-hour expository lectures presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings each January. Emmy Noether was one of the great mathematicians of her time, someone who worked and struggled for what she loved and believed in. Her life and work remain a tremendous inspiration.
  • AMS-NZMS Maclaurin Lectureship - a reciprocal exchange between the New Zealand Mathematical Society and American Mathematical Society. This was a six-year program that ended in 2016.
  • Hrabowski-Gates-Tapia-McBay Lecture - named after four influential scientists of color and presented annually at the Joint Mathematics Meetings

See a list here of all joint lectures held with MAA at January meetings, dating back to 1986.

Contact Information

Penny Pina
Director of Meetings & Conferences
Phone: (401) 455-4145, 1-800-321-4267, Ext. 4145
Fax: (401) 455-4004
Email: Meetings