Mathematical Association of America

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a group for people who love mathematics. It helps teachers, students, and anyone interested in math share ideas and learn from each other. Members include university, college, and high school teachers, students, mathematicians, computer scientists, statisticians, and many others who work with numbers in different fields.

The MAA started in 1915 and has its main office at 11 Dupont in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, D.C.. It creates books and magazines about math, such as the American Mathematical Monthly, which was begun even earlier in 1894 by Benjamin Finkel. This magazine is read by more people around the world than any other math magazine, according to information from JSTOR. The MAA makes math fun and easy for everyone to understand.

Meetings

The MAA organizes an annual summer event called MathFest. They also work together with the American Mathematical Society to host the Joint Mathematics Meeting every January. Sometimes, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics joins these meetings too. There are also twenty-nine regional sections that meet regularly throughout the year.

Publications

The Mathematical Association of America works with Taylor & Francis to create many useful journals and books about math. Some of their journals include The American Mathematical Monthly, which helps students and teachers learn more about math, and Mathematics Magazine, which is great for teachers of undergraduate math classes.

They also publish MAA FOCUS, a newsletter for members, and many books for students studying math. These books cover many topics and are meant to help students understand math better.

Competitions

The MAA sponsors many math competitions for students. One famous competition is the William Lowell Putnam Competition for undergraduate students. For middle- and high-school students, there are the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC). These include:

• AMC 8: 25 multiple choice questions in 40 minutes
• AMC 10/AMC 12: 25 multiple choice questions in 75 minutes
• AIME: 15 short answer questions in a 3-hour period
• USAMO/USAJMO: 6 questions over 2 days, requiring proofs

Top students may join the Mathematical Olympiad Program. From this program, six high school students are selected to represent the U.S. at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

Sections

The MAA has twenty-nine regional sections across different areas. These include places like Allegheny Mountain, EPADEL, Florida, Illinois, and many others. Each section helps connect people who love math, from teachers and students to professionals in many fields.

Special Interest Groups

The Mathematical Association of America has seventeen Special Interest Groups. These groups help bring together people who share the same interest in mathematics. They support the MAA’s mission by helping these groups connect with the larger math community.

Some of these groups include Mathematics and the Arts, Business, Industry, Government, Environmental Mathematics, History of Mathematics, and many more. These groups cover topics like teaching math, using math in sports, and even doing math research while still in school.

Awards and prizes

The Mathematical Association of America gives out many special prizes for excellent work in math. Some of these prizes are the Chauvenet Prize, the Carl B. Allendoerfer Award, the Trevor Evans Award, the Lester R. Ford Award, the George Pólya Award, the Merten M. Hasse Prize, the Henry L. Alder Award, the Euler Book Prize, and the Beckenbach Book Prize. There is also a prize called the Yueh-Gin Gung and Dr. Charles Y. Hu Award for Distinguished Service to Mathematics. These prizes help to show and celebrate great achievements in making math interesting and understandable for everyone.

Memberships

The MAA works together with other groups to support math learning. 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, which brings together sixteen groups that care about math.

Historical accounts

The Mathematical Association of America was started in 1915, but its beginnings go back to 1894 when the American Mathematical Monthly was created. Benjamin Finkel started this journal because he wanted to make math more interesting and understandable for students and teachers. He believed that many math journals at the time were too hard and didn’t spend enough time on solving problems.

Many books and reports tell the story of the MAA’s early years. The group’s records are kept safe in the Archives of American Mathematics.