Mathematical Association of America facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Mathematical Association of America

Formation	1915
Headquarters	11 Dupont Cir NW Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036
Members	25,000+
President	Hortensia Soto
Key people	Michael Pearson, Executive Director

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a group for people who love mathematics. It's a professional society that helps make math fun and understandable, especially for students in college and high school. Many different people are members, including teachers, students, mathematicians, computer scientists, and statisticians. They come from schools, businesses, and even the government.

The MAA started in 1915. Its main office is in Washington, D.C.. The organization creates math journals and books. One famous journal is the American Mathematical Monthly, which began in 1894. It's one of the most popular math journals around!

Join Math Enthusiasts at Meetings

The MAA holds exciting events where math lovers can meet. They host an annual summer event called MathFest. They also team up with the American Mathematical Society for the Joint Mathematics Meeting every January. Sometimes, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics joins these big meetings too. Besides these national events, there are 29 smaller regional groups that have their own regular meetings.

Challenge Your Brain with Math Competitions

The MAA organizes many math challenges for students. These competitions help students test their math skills and learn new things.

Competitions for College Students

• The William Lowell Putnam Competition is a tough math contest for college students.

Competitions for Middle and High School Students

The MAA runs the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) for younger students. This series helps find talented young mathematicians.

• AMC 8: This contest has 25 multiple-choice questions. Students get 40 minutes to solve them.
• AMC 10/AMC 12: These have 25 multiple-choice questions. Students have 75 minutes to finish.
• AIME: This competition has 15 short-answer questions. Students get 3 hours to work on them.
• USAMO/USAJMO: This is a very advanced competition. It has 6 proof-based questions spread over 2 days, with 9 hours total.

The best students from these competitions are invited to join the Mathematical Olympiad Program. From this program, six high school students are chosen to represent the U.S. at the International Mathematics Olympiad. This is a huge honor!

Explore Math with Special Interest Groups

The MAA has seventeen Special Interest Groups, called SIGMAAs. These groups bring together people who share a common interest in a specific area of mathematics. They help members connect and share ideas with the wider math community.

Recognizing Excellence with Awards

The MAA gives out many important awards and prizes. These awards celebrate people who have done amazing things in mathematics. Some of these awards 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 give the Euler Book Prize for excellent math books. The Yueh-Gin Gung and Dr. Charles Y. Hu Award for Distinguished Service to Mathematics is one of their highest honors.

A History of Inclusivity

The MAA has always worked to be a welcoming place for everyone, without discrimination. In the past, like many organizations, it faced challenges with fairness. One important event happened in 1951 at a meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. A mathematician named Lee Lorch and three Black colleagues were not allowed to attend a banquet because of their race.

Lee Lorch and his colleagues spoke up about this. Even though the rules weren't changed right away, the MAA made sure that non-discrimination policies were put in place. Since then, the MAA has strictly followed these policies. In 2007, Lee Lorch received the MAA's highest award for his important work.

The MAA also made history by having its first woman president, Dorothy Lewis Bernstein, who served from 1979 to 1980.

Leaders of the MAA: Presidents

Here is a list of the presidents who have led the MAA over the years:

See also

In Spanish: Mathematical Association of America para niños

• American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges
• American Mathematical Society
• Computer-based mathematics education
• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics