Message from Jason Molitierno, Chair of the Northeastern Section

Greetings! I hope that everyone’s semesters are winding down nicely and that you are all looking forward to a restful summer.

This is my first newsletter message as Chair. I took over as Chair at the end of the Fall Meeting at Framingham State as Tommy Ratliff’s term ended. Tommy did a nice job and should be commended. Having been chair for only about four months now, I have come to realize how much hard work it is, but also how rewarding it is. Thank you to all Section officers, past and present, for making this such a thriving Section.

It was great seeing so many of you at the Framingham meeting. Sarah Mabrouk organized a great meeting chairing (actually being) both the Program Committee and Local Arrangements Committee. There were many wonderful invited speakers, student papers, and contributed papers. So many thanks to Sarah.

I would also like to thank Rob Poodiack for organized the second annual Northeastern Section Collegiate Mathematics Competition at the Fall Meeting. The competition was a huge success with undergraduates from schools all over the Section competing.

Section NExT continues to be very successful. About twenty faculty members participated at the Fall Meeting. Also, Lisa Humphreys who founded Section NExT back in 2002 will be stepping down as the coordinator. Many thanks to Lisa for starting such a successful program which has been beneficial to many new faculty (including myself) over the past five years. Karen Stanish will be taking over as coordinator of Section NExT.

In other news, congratulations to David Carhart of Bentley College for winning the 2008 NES/MAA Award for Distinguished College/University Teaching. David will be receiving his award at the Spring Meeting at St. Michael’s College and will be invited to give a talk on his home turf at the Fall Meeting at Bentley College.

The upcoming Spring Meeting at St. Michael’s College will be held May 30-31. The meeting is a bit earlier than previous spring meetings so note that the registration deadline of May 16 is fast approaching. The Program Committee (Joanna Ellis-Monaghan, George Ashline, Amy Adams, Karl-Dieter Crisman) and Local Arrangement Committee (Lloyd Simons, Zsuzsanna Kadas, Greta Pangborn) have been working hard. It looks to be a very interesting meeting with many wonderful speakers.

The Section has been busy planning for the future. The Program and Local Arrangements Committee are busily planning the Fall Meeting at Bentley College. We have just finished arranging to have next year’s Spring Meeting held at Fairfield University. More details of these meetings will follow as the time gets closer. The Executive Committee has also been considering the possibility of an on-line registration for Section meetings. Any suggestions concerning this will be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to serving as your chair for the next year-and-a-half. If anyone has any ideas for what you like to see the Section offer, I would be happy to hear them. I hope to see many of you at St. Michael’s!