NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievement of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
This project was supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, National Science Foundation (Grant No. DMS-95222123), and Intel Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.
Copyright 1997 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
International Standard Book Number 0-309-05883-X
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email: bms@nas.edu
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BOARD ON MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
AVNER FRIEDMAN,
University of Minnesota,
Chair
LOUIS AUSLANDER,
City University of New York (deceased 1997)
MARY ELLEN BOCK,
Purdue University
PETER E. CASTRO,
Eastman Kodak Company
FAN R.K. CHUNG,
University of Pennsylvania
R. DUNCAN LUCE,
University of California, Irvine
ROBERT MACPHERSON,
Institute for Advanced Study
SUSAN MONTGOMERY,
University of Southern California
GEORGE NEMHAUSER,
Georgia Institute of Technology
ANIL NERODE,
Cornell University
DIANNE O'LEARY,
University of Maryland
INGRAM OLKIN,
Stanford University
RONALD F. PEIERLS,
Brookhaven National Laboratory
DONALD ST. P. RICHARDS,
University of Virginia
WILLIAM P. ZIEMER,
Indiana University
Ex Officio Member
DARYL PREGIBON,
Bell Laboratories
Chair,
Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics
Staff
JOHN R. TUCKER, Director
RUTH E. O'BRIEN, Staff Associate
BARBARA W. WRIGHT, Administrative Assistant
COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS
ROBERT J. HERMANN,
United Technologies Corporation,
Co-chair
W. CARL LINEBERGER,
University of Colorado,
Co-chair
PETER M. BANKS,
Environmental Research Institute of Michigan
LAWRENCE D. BROWN,
University of Pennsylvania
RONALD G. DOUGLAS,
Texas A&M University
JOHN E. ESTES,
University of California at Santa Barbara
L. LOUIS HEGEDUS,
Elf Atochem North America, Inc.
JOHN E. HOPCROFT,
Cornell University
RHONDA J. HUGHES,
Bryn Mawr College
SHIRLEY A. JACKSON,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
KENNETH H. KELLER,
University of Minnesota
KENNETH I. KELLERMANN,
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
MARGARET KIVELSON,
University of California at Los Angeles
DANIEL KLEPPNER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JOHN KREICK,
Sanders, a Lockheed Martin Company
MARSHA I. LESTER,
University of Pennsylvania
THOMAS A. PRINCE,
California Institute of Technology
NICHOLAS P. SAMIOS,
Brookhaven National Laboratory
L.E. SCRIVEN,
University of Minnesota
SHMUEL WINOGRAD,
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
CHARLES A. ZRAKET,
Mitre Corporation (retired)
NORMAN METZGER, Executive Director
PREFACE
As part of the global science community, the U.S. mathematical sciences community1 today faces new challenges in addition to its traditional ones. In common with all of U.S. science and technology at the close of the twentieth century, the mathematical sciences community is now being called upon to respond to different needs even as budgets become more tightly constrained. New accountability criteria have come into play. Academia, business and industry, and government continue to undergo profound changes (described in several of the invited speakers' papers provided here) that affect the community.
In this report, the National Research Council's (NRC's) Board on Mathematical Sciences (BMS) summarizes the results of a workshop held May 17-19, 1996, in Alexandria, Virginia. The workshop, entitled "Actions for the Mathematical Sciences in the Changed Environment," was organized by the BMS with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, National Science Foundation, and Intel Foundation.
This workshop summary was prepared by the BMS and was reviewed by the NRC in accord with usual procedures. The BMS believes that the views expressed at the workshop should be seen by the mathematical sciences community at large.
AVNER FRIEDMAN, WORKSHOP CHAIR
DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR MATHEMATICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
CHAIR, BOARD ON MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
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CONTENTS
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Introductory Comments |
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Expectations and New Opportunities at the Division of Mathematical Sciences |
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Communicating Mathematics to the Public |
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A View from Capitol Hill |
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Physical Scientists Are from Mars, Mathematicians Are from Venus; How on Earth Can We Communicate? |
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The Growing Impact of Mathematics in Molecular Biology |
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Mathematicians as Educators |
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Educating Mathematical Sciences Graduate Students |
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A View of Major Trends at Research Universities |