Mathematical Association of America

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists; statisticians; and many others in academia, government, business, and industry.

The MAA was founded in 1915 and is headquartered at 11 Dupont in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C.. The organization publishes mathematics journals and books, including the American Mathematical Monthly (established in 1894 by Benjamin Finkel), the most widely read mathematics journal in the world according to records on JSTOR.

The MAA works to support the teaching and learning of mathematics through conferences, contests, and resources for educators and students. It helps make mathematics fun and accessible to people of all ages, showing how important and exciting math can be in everyday life.

Meetings

The MAA sponsors the annual summer MathFest and works together with the American Mathematical Society for the Joint Mathematics Meeting, which happens each January. Sometimes, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics also joins these meetings. Additionally, twenty-nine regional sections hold their own regular meetings.

Publications

The Mathematical Association of America publishes several journals and resources to help teachers and students learn mathematics better. Some of their well-known journals include The American Mathematical Monthly, which is for a wide range of readers from students to experts, and Mathematics Magazine, which focuses on teachers of undergraduate math.

They also have other publications like The College Mathematics Journal for beginner and intermediate students, and Math Horizons for undergraduate students. In addition to journals, the MAA offers books and online tools to support math education.

Competitions

The Mathematical Association of America sponsors many math competitions for students. One famous contest is the William Lowell Putnam Competition for undergraduate students. For younger students, there are the American Mathematics Competitions, including the AMC 8, AMC 10, and AMC 12, which have multiple-choice questions. There is also the AIME with short-answer questions and the USAMO/USAJMO, a challenging contest where students must write proofs. Top performers may join the Mathematical Olympiad Program and could one day represent the U.S. at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

Sections

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) has twenty-nine regional sections across the United States. These sections include areas such as Allegheny Mountain, Florida, Illinois, and many others, helping to bring together teachers, students, and professionals who are interested in mathematics.

Special Interest Groups

The Mathematical Association of America has seventeen Special Interest Groups, called SIGMAAs. These groups help support people who share the same interest in mathematics. They also help these groups connect with the larger mathematics community.

The Special Interest Groups include topics such as Mathematics and the Arts, Business, Industry, Government, Environmental Mathematics, History of Mathematics, and many more. These groups cover a wide range of areas where mathematics plays an important role.

Awards and prizes

The Mathematical Association of America gives out many awards for math achievements. Some of these include the Chauvenet Prize, the Carl B. Allendoerfer Award, the Trevor Evans Award, the Lester R. Ford Award, and the George Pólya Award. They also have special prizes like the Merten M. Hasse Prize, Henry L. Alder Award, and Euler Book Prize, as well as the Yueh-Gin Gung and Dr. Charles Y. Hu Award for Distinguished Service to Mathematics and the Beckenbach Book Prize. These prizes recognize excellent work in making math interesting and understandable.

Memberships

The MAA works together with other groups to support mathematics. It is one of four partners in the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics, and it also takes part in the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences. This board includes sixteen different societies that all care about math.

Historical accounts

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) was established in 1915. Its roots go back to 1894 when the American Mathematical Monthly was founded by Benjamin Finkel. Finkel wanted to create a journal that would be interesting and accessible to students and teachers of mathematics, focusing on problem-solving rather than advanced topics.

The MAA's history is well-documented in several books and reports. The records of the MAA are kept as part of the Archives of American Mathematics.

Inclusivity

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) has always worked to be fair and open to everyone. In the past, it faced the same unfair treatment that was common in the United States. For example, at a meeting in Nashville in 1951, some mathematicians were not allowed to attend a dinner because of their race. The mathematician Lee Lorch, who later received a top award from the MAA, spoke out about this unfairness.

The MAA made sure to create rules against discrimination and has followed them ever since. The Association's first woman president was Dorothy Lewis Bernstein, serving from 1979 to 1980.

Presidents

The Mathematical Association of America has had many leaders since it began. Here are some of the presidents who have guided the group over the years:

• 1916 Earle R Hedrick
• 1917 Florian Cajori
• 1918 Edward V Huntington
• 1919 Herbert Ellsworth Slaught
• 1920 David Eugene Smith
• 1921 George A Miller
• 1922 Raymond C Archibald
• 1923 Robert D Carmichael
• 1924 Henry L Rietz
• 1925 Julian L Coolidge
• 1926 Dunham Jackson
• 1927–1928 Walter B Ford
• 1929–1930 John W Young
• 1931–1932 Eric T Bell
• 1933–1934 Arnold Dresden
• 1935–1936 David R Curtiss
• 1937–1938 Aubrey J Kempner
• 1939–1940 Walter B Carver
• 1941–1942 Raymond Woodard Brink
• 1943–1944 William D Cairns
• 1945–1946 Cyrus C MacDuffee
• 1947–1948 Lester R Ford
• 1949–1950 Rudolph E Langer
• 1951–1952 Saunders Mac Lane
• 1953–1954 Edward J McShane
• 1955–1956 William L Duren, Jr
• 1957–1958 G Baley Price
• 1959–1960 Carl B Allendoerfer
• 1961–1962 Albert W Tucker
• 1963–1964 R H Bing
• 1965–1966 Raymond L Wilder
• 1967–1968 Edwin E Moise
• 1969–1970 Gail S Young
• 1971–1972 Victor Klee
• 1973–1974 Ralph P Boas
• 1975–1976 Henry O Pollak
• 1977–1978 Henry L Alder
• 1979–1980 Dorothy L Bernstein
• 1981–1982 Richard D Anderson
• 1983–1984 Ivan Niven
• 1985–1986 Lynn A Steen
• 1987–1988 Leonard Gillman
• 1989–1990 Lida K Barrett
• 1991–1992 Deborah Tepper Haimo
• 1993–1994 Donald L Kreider
• 1995–1996 Kenneth A Ross
• 1997–1998 Gerald L Alexanderson
• 1999–2000 Thomas F Banchoff
• 2001–2002 Ann E. Watkins
• 2003–2004 Ronald L Graham
• 2005–2006 Carl C Cowen
• 2007–2008 Joseph A Gallian
• 2009–2010 David M Bressoud
• 2011–2012 Paul M Zorn
• 2013–2014 Bob Devaney
• 2015–2016 Francis E. Su
• 2017–2018 Deanna Haunsperger
• 2019–2020 Michael Dorff
• 2021-2022 Jennifer Quinn
• 2022-2025 Hortensia Soto
• 2025-Present Jenna Carpenter