President’s Message

Greetings from John Carroll University! I hope everyone has had a productive beginning to the fall term and that all are looking forward with anticipation to the Fall Meeting.

As your presiding officer I attended MathFest in Albuquerque in early August, and I will try to fill you in on what I learned. Most importantly, we will be electing a new Section Governor this year. A committee consisting of the Officers of the Section will be presenting two candidates for Governor. Balloting will take place in the spring. Be sure to cast your vote when the time comes.

As you know, the Section awards a Teaching Award each spring, and the recipient is then nominated for a national award. This year one of our previous award winners, Aparna Higgins, was chosen as a national award winner. First, many congratulations to Aparna and second, don’t forget to nominate deserving faculty for this year’s award. (See the call for nominations below.) The nomination does take some effort, so an early approach would be best.

The Nominating Committee soon will be contacting some of you to serve as Section officers. Please be generous with your time. The Ohio Section is one of the most successful sections of the MAA, and this success is due to the past generous service of many people. So if asked, please join them.

One thing mentioned at the Officers’ Meeting at MathFest that has also been on my mind was the idea of establishing an endowment for the Section. I have this idea that there are certain activities of the Section that would benefit from a permanent source of funds. Project NExT comes to mind, as does my idea that the section would sponsor some sort of statewide scholarship for graduating high school students in the state. I envision an endowment that could provide a continuing award of one or more substantial scholarships that we could advertise to all high schools and from which we could reap some publicity when we recognize the winners. I know that first of all, this would entail a large sum of money and second, there would be some work necessary to the selection of winners. I have no doubt that the Section would accomplish the second task, if the first were accomplished.

It was suggested at the national meeting that often members have inquired about possible bequests to sections in their wills. Perhaps, this would be a way to begin to accumulate some of the funds required for a scholarship endowment. The national office was adamant, however, about being sure that anyone considering such a bequest should contact the national office for guidance. It seems that as a non-profit organization, it is important that one central source handle all funds that are not “petty cash,” which is what individual sections’ funds are considered. The national office would be the financial agent for any endowment that would accumulate.

I think that a permanent Project NExT or/and an endowed scholarship would be a great legacy that a section could provide for its region. If anyone else thinks that it would be worthwhile pursuing this idea, let me know.

Finally, I want to remind all of us to engage the new faculty in our departments (and some of the old, if necessary) and inform them about our Section meetings and our Project NExT. The Executive Committee has voted to waive the registration fee for those attending their first Ohio Section meeting. Simply indicate appropriately when registering online. Also, in addition to all the food, for the first year Project NExT will provide up to $75 each meeting toward lodging for any new Fellows. It seems, then, that your colleagues would have nothing to lose, so bring them to the meetings.

Really finally, I would like your department to consider hosting a section meeting. We need hosts beginning with the Fall 2007 Meeting. So, please contact me with your offers or suggestions.

See you at the Fall Meeting.

D. M. Olson