IMU Bulletin no. 42, Special Issue, July 1998

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Report of the IMU Executive Committee to the 13th General Assembly

This report covers the period 1994-1997

Members Of The Union, Scientific activities of the Union, Meetings of the Executive Committee, Excerpts The Imu Executive Committee Meetings Between 1995-1998, IMU and ICM on the World Wide Web, Publications Of The Union, World Directory Of Mathematicians - 1998, Postal Ballots, General Assembly - 1998,

Members Of The Union
The following countries were members of IMU as of January 1, 1998:
I. Armenia, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Croatia, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Vietnam, Venezuela
II: Argentina, Austria, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Iran, Ireland, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Yugoslavia
III: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Hungary, India, Netherlands, Poland, Spain
IV: Sweden, Switzerland

V: Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, USA
In its last meeting held in Berlin on May 15-16, 1997, the IMU Executive Committee decided to invite the following countries to apply to change their Groups of Adherence: Sweden and Switzerland from III to IV, and Canada, Israel and Italy and Canada from Group IV to Group V. In the Postal Ballot sent to all country members, the change of Sweden and Switzerland from Group III to Group IV and Italy, Israel and Canada from Group IV to Group V, were approved as of January 1, 1998.

Scientific activities of the Union

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The major events of the International Mathematical Union in 1994 were
its 12th General Assembly, held in Lucerne, Switzerland, July 31 - August 1, 1994, and the International Congress of Mathematicians, held in Zurich, Switzerland, on August 3-11, 1994.

The General Assembly elected a new Executive Committee for IMU as well as for its International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI), a new Commission for Development and Exchange (CDE), and two members to the Executive Committee of its joint International Commission on the History of Mathematics (ICHM), as well as representatives to ICSU bodies. The Assembly also decided that the next Congress should take place in Berlin, in 1998.


The International Congress of Mathematicians - 1994 was held in the Congress Hall of Zurich. A total of 2536 mathematicians from 87 countries and districts attended the meeting together with 363 accompanying members.
The Chairman of the Fields Medals Committee, David Mumford, Vice-President of IMU, announced the recipients of the Fields Medals: J. Bourgain, P-L. Lions, A. Widgerson and J-C. Yoccoz. The Chairman of the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize Committee, Jacques-Louis Lions, announced E. Zelmanov as the recipient of the Prize.
From August 4 to August 11, except for Saturday, August 7, one-hour plenary addresses were delivered in the Congress Hall in the morning (on the last day also in the afternoon) and 45-minutes section lectures in up to 7 parallel sessions were held during the afternoon in the rooms of the University and of the ETH Zurich. In total, there were 16 plenary and 148 section lectures. The speakers had been invited by the Organizing Committee according to the decisions of the Program Committee. Six invited speakers declined for different reasons and two didn't show up. In addition, there were 4 lectures invited by the International Commission on the History of Mathematics, which were scheduled along with the section lectures and 978 short communications appeared in a Book of Abstracts. Most of them and some 100 additional contributions were presented at the poster session which took place at ETH during the afternoon. There were also several informal seminars as well as a symposium organized on Thursday, August 4, by the Association for Women in Mathematics and the European Women in Mathematics.
The Organizing Committee was able to support the prize winners, the officials of IMU, 19 of the invited speakers and some 200 participants from Eastern Europe. The International Mathematical Union through its Special Development Fund, paid the travel expenses of 79 young scholars from developing countries whose living expenses were covered by the Organizing Committee.
At the Closing Ceremony in the afternoon of August 11, Prof. J.L.Lions announced the new members of IMU Executive Committee and of ICMI, CDE and ICHM for the term 1995-1998 and the site or ICM98, as decided by the General Assembly in Lucern. Prof. F. Hirzebruch invited the mathematicians of the world to meet in Berlin in 1998. A banquet was offered to the participants on Friday, August 5, a classical concert by H.H.Schneeberger (violin) and G.Wyss (piano) on Tuesday, August 9 and a performance by the pantomime group Mummenschanz together with the folk music group Trio da Besto on the same evening.

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The following conference was supported by IMU without financial help (IMU imprimatur):

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Meetings of the Executive Committee

The Executive Committee express its gratitude to the ETH- Zentrum, Zürich, Collège de France, Paris, Courant Institute, New York, Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics,, Berlin and Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche, Rome.

Excerpts The Imu Executive Committee Meetings Between 1995-1998

1. Meeting of May 11-12, 1995, Paris, France

Program Committee

The members of the Program Committee were appointed at the meeting. The Chairman is Prof. Phillip Griffiths. The resolutions 3, 4 and 5 of the General Assembly, 1994, concerning the ICM's , were forwarded to the Chairman and members of the PC.

Elections

Following Resolution 6 of the last General Assembly, the Executive Committee of IMU redrafted the proposed Procedures for the Election of the Executive Committee of IMU, as well as those of ICMI, CDE and ICHM. The preliminary versions have been sent to all IMU Adhering Organizations and National Committees for suggestions. (see page 5).

Program "Turn of the Century"

World Mathematical Year 2000 - Following Resolution 2 of the General Assembly 1994, the EC discussed the planning of activities for The World Mathematical Year 2000, in particular an invitation to a select group of outstanding mathematicians to present their views on topics they expect to be central to mathematics in the next century and the selection of a number of symposia, some possibly organized together with other scientific bodies, dedicated to mathematics, its applications and to its role in society, and also events held under the auspices of ICMI, CDE and ICHM. To select the authors of a book that should be published in 1999, on the mathematical perspectives for the 21st century, the EC nominated the following committee:

Books/Journals for Russian Mathematicians

The Executive Committee, decided to continue with the contribution of US 5,000 to main mathematical libraries in Moscow through the Moscow Mathematical Society and to the library of the Steklov Institute or Euler Institute in St. Peterburg. This has been suggested by the EC in its meeting of April 1993, renewing a previous grant in the same amount and same purpose. On that occasion the gesture was appreciated by the Russian institutions and the deliver of books/journals well accomplished.
Also, a number of scientific meetings in different countries were approved to receive IMU financial support or just its imprimatur.

2. Meeting of April 11-12, 1996, New York, USA


Program Turn of the Century - WORLD MATHEMATICAL YEAR 2000


A number of meetings for the year 2000, including possibly some special ones to be co-sponsored or supported by IMU, were discussed. Some of them correspond to periodic activities and thus they have already been scheduled, like ICME and the European Mathematical Society (EMS) Congress. The idea of having meetings in different regions of the world was considered, such as supporting a meeting in Latin America and possibly one in Asia (already ICME is scheduled for Japan) and one in Africa. The IMU may also provide some financial support to other meetings/activities. On the other hand, the EC asked Prof. J-P. Bourguignon, who attended part of the meeting, about the possibility of planning a meeting in Europe on the history of mathematics, to be jointly sponsored by IMU and EMS.

Joint activities at ICM-98 (resolutions of the General Assembly, 1994)


The Executive Committee of IMU had asked the Program Committee (PC) to take steps to implement Resolutions 3, 4 and 5 of the General Assembly, 1994. The Chairman of the PC, Prof. Griffiths, reported that the collaboration with other institutions like the Committee for the International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics (CICIAM), Bernoulli Society, the Mathematical Programming Society and others, were being pursued to jointly plan part of the sections, specially with respect to applications.
A member of ICMI Executive Committee, Prof. J. Kilpatrick, also attended part of the meeting and presented a view on this IMU Commission. It was discussed, among other things, ICMI's involvement in ICM 98. Prof. Mumford pointed out the necessity of closer cooperation between the Executive Committee of IMU and its Commissions. In particular, the PC should have ICMI and ICHM collaboration in planning the sections on teaching and popularization as well as history of mathematics.
Since only the talks programmed for the sections shall appear in the Proceedings of the Congress, Prof. Kilpatrick would discuss with ICMI-EC the issue of promoting talks outside the official sections organized by the PC.

Joint Sections with AMS


A meeting of the American Mathematical Society took place in New York just after that of the Executive Committee of IMU. For the occasion, IMU and AMS programmed two joint sections on Saturday, April 13. The first one was a panel discussion entitled: "The activities of IMU and Plans for ICM-98" - Members of the Executive Committee, as well as Prof. P. Griffiths, as Program Chair for ICM-98 and J. Kilpatrick on behalf of ICMI, participated on it presenting an overview of some of the main activities of IMU and plans for the near future.
On Saturday afternoon, there was a section entitled: "International Forum: Perspectives on doing mathematics in the electronic age". A round table was formed by John Ewing, Martin Groetschel, Joachim Heinze, Andrew Odlyzko, followed by a discussion under the coordination of Lázslo Lovász. Since a number of relevant issues were raised during the meeting, like research journals, storage of information and others of continuous interest to mathematicians, an IMU Commission/Committee on electronic publishing seemed appropriated. The issued would be considered by the EC and be in the agenda of the next meetings.

Also, a number of scientific meetings in different countries were approved to receive IMU financial support or just its imprimatur.

3. Meeting of May 15-16, 1997, Berlin, Germany


ICM-98
- The EC dedicated part of the meeting to the arrangements for the ICM-98. A report was presented to the EC by Prof. M. Groetschel, in charge of the Local Organizing Committee, who also programmed a visit to the location of the Congress. Especial attention was given to the Opening Ceremony and activities of the first day of the Congress
Grants to attend the ICM/98 -
Besides the young research mathematicians from developing countries, the Organizing Committee of ICM/98 is raising funds for mathematicians from Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union to attend the Congress. In a much smaller scale, some funds are also being raised for mature mathematicians from developing countries.
ICM-2002 -
Applications to hold the ICM 2002 has been received from Norway and China. The Site Committee has decided to recommend to the next General Assembly that the Congress should be held in China. This decision was taken under the fundamental assumption that all mathematicians of the world will be allowed to participate in the meeting. Thus, the Executive Committee expects that the final vote at the General Assembly will take into account the importance of the host country to abide by ICSU's principle of free circulation of scientists.
Change in IMU Statutes -
The EC decided to recommend to the next General Assembly, additions to the IMU Statutes for the purpose of facilitating jointly sponsored activities with multi-national mathematical societies and professional societies, in pursuing the objectives of IMU (see page 35).
Manifesto/Video
- It was also discussed the possibility of IMU issuing a manifesto to promote mathematics in the turn of the century, stressing its importance to society, that should also appeal to the mathematical community to engage itself in the promotion of a a more creative teaching of mathematics at all levels. Similarly, it was also raised the possibility of support the production and distribution of video recordings of lectures delivered by outstanding mathematicians and aimed at general audiences.
IMU book Mathematics Tomorrow
- V. Arnold (Coordinator), M. Atiyah, P. Lax and B. Mazur are members of the Committee in charge of editing a book of articles by prominent mathematicians on how they see the prospects of mathematics in the coming century. A good number of potential authors had answered positively to the invitation. The book is expected to appear in 1999. The EC decided to invite publishers to present bids to produce the book Mathematics Tomorrow, by early December 1998
(please see page 34).
Also, a number of scientific meetings in different countries were approved to receive IMU financial support or just its imprimatur.

4. Meeting of April 1-3, 1998, Rome, Italy

* The EC is considering proposing to the General Assembly a new Commission on Electronic Information and Communication. The idea grew up from a previous Committee on Electronic Publishing, set up by the EC at the previous meetings at New York and Berlin and chaired by Prof. Groetschel. The EC delegated to the President of IMU the task of consulting with all interested parties to develop the Terms of Reference for this proposed Commission.

* Prizes of the Union - Professor Mumford reported that the Fields Medals and Rolf Nevanlinna Prize Committees have completed their work. The Fields Medal will be awarded to four persons, and the Nevanlinna Prize to one. The names will be announced at the Opening Ceremony of ICM-98. The EC also decided to give a silver plaque to Andrew Wiles.


* Slates - The election for the next IMU EC and its Commissions were discussed and slates were prepared to be sent to all Adhering Organizations/National Committees and Delegates (see Procedures for Elections, page 5).


* World Mathematical Year 2000

The Executive Committee approved financial support to the following meetings, considering them as part of IMU activities for the year 2000.
- International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-9) to be held on July 31 - August 7, in Makuhari/Chiba (Japan)
- Third European Congress Of Mathematics, European Math. Society, July 10-14, to be held in Barcelona, (Spain)
- International Congress Of Mathematical Physics XIII, to be held in London, July 17 - 22.
- First Latin America And Caribbean Mathematical Congress - Latin American And Caribbean Union (UMALCA), August, to be held in Rio de Janeiro

* The Executive Committee of IMU has approved a one-time support to the development of mathematics in Ukraine and the upbringing of new talented researchers, in the amount of US 8,000.00, primarily for acquisition of books and journals and publication of lecture series; other activities such as small support for meetings may be planned.

IMU and ICM on the World Wide Web

Publications Of The Union


Six issues of the IMU Bulletin have come out in the last three and half years: Number 37 in December 1994, Number 38, in December 1995, Number 39, in December 1996, Number 40, in December 1997 41 and the present number 42 (Special Number), in June 1998.
The 10th Edition of the World Directory of Mathematicians came out in 1994. The compilation of material and printing were done by the American Mathematical Society and Prof. D. Mumford was the Editor. The AMS. is the sole distributor of the Directory.

World Directory Of Mathematicians - 1998

 National Committees and Mathematical Societies were requested to prepare the list of mathematicians in their countries. Each mathematician should be the author of at least two papers published in journals whose articles are internationally reviewed . E-mail address and fax numbers should also be provided, when possible.
The new issue of the World Directory of Mathematicians (11th Edition) will appear at the occasion of the International Congress of Mathematicians, 1998.

Postal Ballots
The following postal ballots were conducted among the Adhering Organizations, with the knowledge of the
National Committees for Mathematics, in the years 1995-1998.

1996:


1997:


1998:



General Assembly - 1998
The General Assembly shall take place in Dresden, on August 15 - 16 at Hotel Bellevue and the Executive Committee will meet on August 14, 1998.

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Last modified: Thu Jul 9 09:59:57 1998