National Association of Mathematicians

National Association of Mathematicians
Abbreviation	NAM
Founded	1969
Type	501(c)(3)
Focus	promoting excellence in the mathematical sciences; promoting the mathematical development of all underrepresented minorities.
Board of directors	Omayra Ortega, President; Torina Lewis, Vice-President; Aris Winger, Executive Secretary; Cory Colbert, Treasurer; Shea Burns, Secretary ; Zerotti Woods, Editor
Website	www.nam-math.org

The National Association of Mathematicians is a professional association for mathematicians in the US, especially African Americans and other minorities.^[1] It was founded in 1969.^[2]

Lectures

NAM hosts five lecture series that honor African American mathematicians.^[3]

Two of these take place at the annual Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society. The Cox-Talbot Lecture, named after Elbert Frank Cox and Walter Richard Talbot, is an hour-long lecture that takes place during the NAM Banquet. Invited speakers are mathematicians chosen for their achievement and service to the mathematical community. The Lecture was inaugurated in 1990, and past speakers include Nathan Alexander, Robert Q. Berry III, Talitha Washington, Roselyn E. Williams, Talithia Williams, Erica N. Walker, Garikai Campbell, and Tanya Moore (activist).^[4]

The Claytor-Woodard Lecture at the JMM was inaugurated in 1980 and is named after Dudley Weldon Woodard and William Waldron Schieffelin Claytor.^[5] Each year a speaker is chosen on the basis of their work to improve opportunities in mathematical research for underrepresented American minorities. Past speakers include Ryan Hynd, Monica Jackson, Chelsea Walton, Suzanne Weekes, and Henok Mawi.

The other three lecture series organised by NAM are:

Albert Turner Bharucha-Reid Lecture at the Regional Faculty Conference on Research and Teaching Excellence
MAA-NAM David Harold Blackwell Lecture at Mathematical Association of America (MAA) MathFest
J. Ernest Wilkins Lecture at NAM's Undergraduate MATHFest.

History

At the 1969 Joint Mathematics Meetings in New Orleans, seventeen mathematicians met on Sunday January 26 to begin a new organization:^[6]

James Ashley Donaldson, faculty at University Illinois at Chicago
Samuel Horace Douglas, faculty at Grambling College
Henry Madison Eldridge, faculty at Fayetteville State College
Thyrsa Anne Frazier-Svager, faculty at Central State University
Richard Griego, faculty at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque
Johnny Lee Houston, faculty Stillman College and graduate student at Purdue University
Curtis Jefferson, faculty at Cuyahoga Community College
Vivienne Malone-Mayes, faculty at Baylor University
Theodore Portis, faculty at Alabama State University
Charles R. Smith, faculty at Paine College
Robert S. Smith, graduate student at Pennsylvania State University
Beauregard Stubblefield, faculty at Texas Southern University
Henry Thaggert, faculty at Jarvis Christian College
Walter Richard Talbot, faculty at Morgan State College
Argelia Valez-Rodriquez, faculty at Bishop College
Harriet Rose Junior Walton, faculty at & Morehouse College
Scott W. Williams, graduate student at Lehigh University

References

^ Johnny Houston (2000), The history of the National Association of Mathematicians (NAM): The first thirty (30) years, 1969–1999, ISBN 9780970333209
^ National Association of Mathematicians The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota
^ "The National Association of Mathematicians - Signature Programs". www.nam-math.org. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
^ "The National Association of Mathematicians - Cox-Talbot Lecture". www.nam-math.org. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
^ "The National Association of Mathematicians - Claytor-Woodard Lecture". www.nam-math.org. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
^ Johnny Houston, "The Founding of the National Association of Mathematicians, Inc. (NAM)". In "The Golden Anniversary Celebration of the National Association of Mathematicians", Edited by Omayra Ortega, Emille Davie Lawrence, and Edray Herber Goins. ISBN 978-1-4704-5130-1 https://bookstore.ams.org/view?ProductCode=CONM/759