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Second Joint International Meeting of the AMS and the South African Mathematical Societies

The second Joint International Meeting of the South African and American Mathematical Societies was held at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, from November 29 to December 3, 2011. A total of 314 delegates attended. The first joint meeting took place in Pretoria in 1997. Vice Chancellor Prof. Derrick Swartz (photograph above, left) welcomed all delegates at a reception, at which the South African Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, the Honorable Derek Hanekom, spoke.

The scientific program, organized by representatives of both societies, included plenary speakers from each society. The invited speakers were:

  • Mark J. Ablowitz, University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Zoltan Furedi, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • Mikhail Petrov, University of Swaziland
  • James Raftery, University of Kwazulu Natal
  • Daya Reddy, University of Cape Town
  • Peter Sarnak, Princeton University
  • Lindi Tshabalala, Thuthuzekani Primary School
  • Amanda Weltman, University of Cape Town

There were 13 Special Sessions on the program, and AMS Contributed Paper sessions. Among the participants were 105 postgraduate students. There was a competition for the best Doctoral and Masters talks, with books awarded to the winners and runners-up. Justin Southey of University of Johannesburg won the Doctoral competition and Madelein Basson of University of Pretoria won the Masters section. The five-day meeting also included excursions and a Mayoral reception at the Blue Flag Humewood Beach.

See many more photographs on the SAMS & AMS Joint Congress 2011 Facebook page. Thanks to Geoff Booth, Chair of the Local Organizing Committee, for details on the Congress.

International meetings are a valuable addition to the Society's programs that foster contacts and collaborations: Including the AMS's first joint international meeting with the London Mathematical Society in 1992, the AMS has co-sponsored 28 meetings with sister societies in their host countries and the U.S. Upcoming is the Joint International Meeting of the AMS and the Romanian Mathematical Society, June 27-30, 2013, in Alba Iulia, Romania, held in partnership with the "Simion Stoilow" Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy. See information on all AMS Joint International Meetings.

--- Annette Emerson, AMS Public Awareness Officer