SPRING 2006 MEETING:  GEORGIAN COURT UNIVERSITY, SATURDAY, APRIL 8 CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NEW JERSEY SECTION!

Flyer for the Meeting (including paper registration forms, maps, abstracts, etc.):  here

Program for the Spring 2006 Meeting: here and

Program for the GSUMC: here

TEAM REGISTRATION FOR GSUMC: here

• Plenary speakers for the meeting:
• Robert Devaney (Boston University)
• "Chaos Games and Fractal Images" 
• Abstract: In this lecture we will describe some of the beautiful images
  that arise from the "Chaos Game."  We will show how the simple steps of
  this game produce, when iterated millions of times, the intricate images
  known as fractals.
       We will describe some of the applications of this technique used in data
  compression as well as in Hollywood.  We will also challenge students
  present to "Beat the Professor" at the chaos game and maybe win his
  computer.
• Biographical sketch: (full description at http://math.bu.edu/people/bob/brief-vita.html)
  A native of Methuen, Massachusetts, Robert L. Devaney is currently
  Professor of Mathematics at Boston University. He received his Bachelors
  degree from Holy Cross in 1969 and his PhD from the University of
  California at Berkeley in 1973 under the direction of Stephen Smale.  He
  taught at Northwestern University and Tufts University before coming to
  Boston University in 1980.
       In 1994 he received the Award for Distinguished University Teaching from
  the Northeastern section of the Mathematical Association of America. In
  1995 he was the recipient of the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award
  for Distinguished University Teaching at the annual meeting of the
  Mathematical Association of America. In 1996, he was awarded the Boston
  University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award. In 2002 he received the
  National Science Foundation Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching
  Scholars. In 2002, he also received the ICTCM Award for Excellence and
  Innovation with the Use of Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. In
  2003, he was the recipient of Boston University's Metcalf Award for
  Teaching Excellence. In 2004 he was named the Carnegie/CASE
  Massachusetts Professor of the Year. In 2005 he received the Trevor
  Evans Award from the Mathematical Association of America for an article
  entitled Chaos Rules published in Math Horizons.
  
• Judith Grabiner (Pitzer College - California)
• "Why Historical Truth Matters to Mathematicians: Dispelling Myths
  while Promoting Maths"
• Abstract:  I'll recount seven myths about the development of mathematics
  that I have encountered in my career as a historian of mathematics.  For
  instance, here's one you have probably encountered too:  It is often
  said that Newton invented the calculus just to do his physics.  Did he?
       The examples to be discussed range from antiquity to the twentieth
  century. I hope to provide a more accurate (and more interesting!) story
  for each. I will also also explain what is at stake in getting each of
  them right: the general point is that it helps us understand the way
  mathematics actually develops and thus how to make our own work more
  fruitful -- and better appreciated by the rest of humanity.
• Biographical Sketch:
  Judith V. Grabiner got her B. S. in Mathematics from the University of
  Chicago in 1960, and her Ph. D. in the History of Science from Harvard
  in 1966.  She is the author of two books and numerous articles on the
  history of mathematics; her book The Origins of Cauchy's Rigorous
  Calculus has just been reprinted by Dover.  She has won the Lester Ford
  award for articles of expository excellence in the American Mathematical
  Monthly on three separate occasions, and the Carl Allendoerfer award for
  outstanding articles in the Mathematics Magazine three times as well.
  In 2003 she received the Deborah Tepper Haimo Award for excellence in
  college or university teaching from the Mathematical Association of
  America.
       Currently she is the Flora Sanborn Pitzer Professor of Mathematics at
  Pitzer College in Claremont, California.
• Roger Pinkham (Stevens Institute of Technology - New Jersey)
• "Eulerian Numbers and Worpitsky's Identity"
• Abstract:  One of Euler's many investigations had as a side result
  certain polynomials.  J. Worpitsky [1883] found their coefficients
  satisfied an intriguing but puzzling identity.  In this talk I hope to
  effectively highlight these "Eulerian" numbers and to make clear the
  reason for the intriguing identity.
• Biographical Sketch:
  My parents were son and daughter of lighthouse keepers.  My father had
  to row a mile to the mainland to enable walking a mile to high school.  I
  was the first to leave the coast of Maine and go away to college.  First
  the University of Maine, then Harvard with detours to Woods Hole
  Oceanographic Institute and Arthur D. Little.  A post-doc at Princeton
  under John Tukey was a pure joy as was working with George Box and side
  trips to Bell Telephone Laboratories.  For the last 40 years I have
  taught at Stevens Institute of Technology.
   
• Contributed Paper Sessions
• History of Mathematics


• General Contributed Paper Session
  • All papers submitted by the deadline of March 3, 2006 will be considered by the Committee on the basis of quality of the paper and the goal of broadening participation.  Note that papers are no longer accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
  • Please submit by e-mail the title, a three-to-four line summary to be printed in the program, and a one-page abstract. 
    • Send history papers to Larry D'Antonio, Ramapo College, ldant@ramapo.edu
    • Send general papers to Theresa C. Michnowicz, New Jersey City University, tmichnowicz@njcu.edu

     

• The Award for Distinguished Teaching of Mathematics
  • Please consider nominating a college or university teacher in the New Jersey Section of the MAA for The Award for Distinguished Teaching of Mathematics.  A .pdf discussing the nominating procedure is available here.

• Garden State Undergraduate Mathematics Conference
  • Once again, the spring sectional meeting will coincide with the Garden State Undergraduate Mathematics Conference.  As the two previous years, there will be a student problem-solving competition, student talks and poster presentations, and workshops on careers, as well as other events tailored to students.  Please contact Larry D'Antonio, Ramapo College, ldant@ramapo.edu for additional information.  Or, visit the website, here.

   

FALL 2006 MEETING:  SETON HALL UNIVERSITY, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2006

• Carl Pomerance, Darthmouth College has agreed to speak.

FALL 2005 MEETING:  MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2005

• Speakers for the meeting:
• David Bressoud (Macalester College)
• Alternating Signs Matrices
  
• Ronald Graham (University of California - San Diego)
• Packing Equal Discs in the Plane
  
• Betty Liu (Monmouth University)
• Computer Simulations of Blood Flow in Atherosclerotic
  Arteries
• Workshops
• David Bressoud (Macalester College)
• The CUPM Curriculum Guide 2004
  
• Holly Carley (Rutgers University) and Richard Kuntz (Monmouth University)
• Using Web-based Homework Systems

• The flyer, including directions, can be downloaded here as a .pdf.

• The MAA NJ Section By-Laws are being revised by the By-Laws Revision Committee, chaired by Bonnie Gold (Monmouth University) with members Mark Korlie (Montclair State University), Reggie Luke (Middlesex County College), and Theresa Michnowicz (New Jersey City University).  The MAA NJ Section members will vote on the proposed changes at the Fall 2005 meeting.  The current by-laws and the proposed changes appear below, as .doc files.
• 1997 By-Laws
• 2005 Proposed Amendments to the By-Laws
• If accepted, how the new By-Laws would look en toto
  

• If your institution is interested in hosting a future meeting of MAA-NJ, please read our page on host responsibilities. For further details, please contact Larry D'Antonio.
  

THE SPRING 2005 MEETING

• Thanks to everyone who helped make the Spring MAA NJ meeting and the Garden State Undergraduate Math Conference at Middlesex County College a success.
  
• Program from the Spring MAA NJ Meeting is here. 
• Program from the Garden State Undergraduate Math Conference is here. 

• Barbara Osofsky, Rutgers University, awarded the 2005 Mathematical Association of America Certificate of Meritorious Service at the Joint Meetings in Atlanta.  Read more about her achievements and her response to receiving the award, here.

If you have any comments, suggestions or corrections, then please notify Michael A. Jones, at jonesm@mail.montclair.edu.