AMS Fact Sheet

Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, the American Mathematical Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life.

History: The American Mathematical Society was founded in 1888 to foster comradeship and communication among mathematicians. "It is proposed by some recent students of the graduate school of Columbia College to establish a mathematical society for the purpose of preserving, supplementing, and utilizing the results of their mathematical studies," was the call to mathematicians led by Thomas S. Fiske. The Society was incorporated in 1923 and moved its headquarters to Rhode Island in 1951.

Membership: The AMS has over 32,000 individual members in 130 countries, and 554 institutional members worldwide. Members include students, college and university faculty, and mathematicians employed in government and in the private sector.

Meetings and Conferences: In collaboration with other organizations, the AMS runs the largest annual research mathematics meeting in the world: the Joint Mathematics Meetings. The 2008 Joint Meetings included over 1,900  presentations across all areas of mathematics, and drew a record number of registrants--over 5,500. The 2009 Joint Mathematics Meetings will be held in Washington, DC. The Society's eight sectional meetings held each year at institutions in various regions of the U.S. draw researchers from around the world. The AMS co-sponsors international mathematics meetings--in Brazil and China in 2008--and summer conferences located at the Snowbird Resort in Utah.

Publishing Program: The Society's leading publication is Mathematical Reviews (MR)--a database of over 2.3 million reviews of mathematics publications. MathSciNet, the MR database on the web, covers mathematical literature in over 1,800 journals, indexes over 490,000 authors, and links to over 900,000 original articles. Approximately 85,000 items are added each year. The AMS publishes eight scholarly mathematics journals; The Notices of the AMS, and books—over 3,000 monographs, textbooks, collected works, proceedings, and titles of general interest in print.

Employment and Career Services: At the annual Joint Mathematics Meetings the AMS administers the Mathematical Sciences Employment Center, providing both scheduled and unscheduled interviews for applicants and employers. The AMS sponsors MathJobs.org, an electronic job application system; publishes Employment in the Mathematical Sciences, a periodical listing open positions; and provides an email job-posting notification service for AMS members.

Programs and Services for the Profession: The AMS co-sponsors surveys and reports, including the Annual Survey of the Mathematical Sciences and a major survey on the profession every five years, and provides customized reports on request from department chairs. The Society also administers fellowships and grants.

Washington, D.C. Office: This AMS office develops and maintains contacts with other professional societies, science coalitions, education organizations, federal agencies, Congress, and businesses to keep abreast of science policy, learn about educational activities, and share information with the Society's membership and the broader mathematical community. The office hosts congressional luncheon briefings, organizes town meetings and workshops, facilitates communication between constituents and congressional representatives, and serves as the center for activities of the AMS committees on science policy and education.

Prizes and Awards: The AMS sponsors and co-sponsors fifteen prizes and nine awards that recognize outstanding achievement in mathematical research, exceptional public service, and significant contributions to the public understanding of mathematics.

Outreach: In addition to the above outreach programs, the Society's Epsilon Fund supports Young Scholars Programs that offer summer research experiences for mathematically talented high school students. Math in the Media, the Feature Column, Mathematical Moments and Mathematical Imagery programs promote awareness and appreciation of mathematics. The Public Awareness Office's Who Wants to be a Mathematician game for high school students, held around the country, is very popular. Other programs include special member dues and subscription rates for individuals and institutions in developing countries, and the AMS Book and Journal Donation Program.

Organization: There are 211 employees in the AMS offices in Providence and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Governance: The Society is governed by Officers, the Council, the Executive Committee of the Council, the Board of Trustees, and Committees that oversee the policies relating to publications, the profession, education, science policy, meetings and conferences, prizes and awards, among other areas.

Finance: Publication sales, dues, contributions, endowments (restricted and unrestricted), investments, government contracts and service contracts support the programs and services of the Society. The AMS operating budget is approximately US$25 million.

www.ams.orgThe AMS website includes information on all AMS programs, services, meetings and membership, as well as resources, tools and news for mathematicians, journalists, publishers, librarians and the general public. Reference tools and resources include MRef, directories, and resources for typesetting mathematics.

Contact Information:
Mike Breen or Annette Emerson
Public Awareness Officers
Email: paoffice@ams.org
Telephone: 401-455-4000
Fax: 401-331-3842

Updated 5/8/08