APRIL 1987 COUNCIL MINUTES

The Council met in the Monmouth Room of the Hilton Gateway Hotel in Newark, NJ
on 25 April 1987 at 7:00 PM.  Members present were R.A. Askey, H. Bass, W.W.
Comfort, R.G. Douglas, J.P. Gilman, H.C. Hsiang, J.B. Keller, I. Kra, H.B.
Lawson, M. Lowengrub, G.D. Mostow, A. Odlyzko, F.P. Peterson, E. Pitcher, 
M.B. Pour-El, M. Rieffel, C. Sadosky, E.L. Stout, J.E. Taylor, A. Terra, 
K. Uhlenbeck, W.A. Veech, D.A. Vogan, Jr., R. F. Williams, and C. Wood.  Also
present were R.G. Bartle, R. Hahn, K.M. Hoffman, W.J. LeVeque, J.W. Maxwell,
and J.A. Voytuk.  The privilege of the floor was granted at various times to
L. Garnett, J. Polking, L. Keen, M. Shub, and W. Thurston.  Presdient Mostow
was in the chair.

MINUTES

l.l MINUTES OF 20 JANUARY 1987.  The paragraph at the top of P. 9 should be
replaced by the following:

	Regarding question 2, the EC/BT of 20-22 November 1986 set the
	registration fee at grant-supported conferences in 1987 at $10.00.

With this correction the minutes were approved.

1.2 MINUTES OF 19 FEBRUARY 1987:  This minute, attached, records the election
of Irwin Kra to the EC.  It was approved.

At this point, the President recognized Professor Sadosky, who entered a
protest over the fact that the Council meeting and a lecture sponsored by the
Association for Women in Mathematics had been scheduled at the same time, thus
depriving Council members of the lecture.  When Associate Secretary W. Wistar
Comfort arrived a few minutes later he explained the alternatives that had
been offered to AWM, from which they had chosen.

COMMITTEES AND BOARDS

4.1  COMMITTEE AND SCIENCE POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS:  The Committee on Science
Policy formulated four recommendations for presentation to the Council:

	1.  That the Council instruct the Managing Editor of the NOTICES
	and the Chairman of the NOTICES Editorial Committee to open its
	pages for comment related to two motions considered at the
	business meeting of 22 January, 1987.  (See the NOTICES for
	January, Page 76, or for February in the Secretary's report
	on the business meeting, pp. 398-399.)

	2.  That the Council declare its intent to hold a referendum after
	the 1988 Annual Meeting on the substance of the two motions or on
	broader issues of federal funding of research in mathematics.

	3.  That the Council invite the sponsors of the two motions to 
	support the referendum by moving to table the two motions in
	favor of the referendum.

	4.  That the Council charge the Committee on Science Policy to
	supervise the formulation of the motions on the referendum for
	presentation to the Council for it approval.

The Council debated these at length, mostly in committee of the whole. A
committee consisting of Professor Douglas, Kra, and Taylor produced an
alternative later in the meeting.  With slight alteration, the Council approved
the alternative.  The Secretary had edited it to make it clearer to the 
uninitiated because item 6 calls for publication.  This is the version to
appear as part of an announcement in the NOTICES for June l987.

	1.  The Council instructs the Managing Editor of the NOTICES
and the chairman of the NOTICES Editorial Committee to open its pages
for comment related to two motions considered at the Business Meeting
of 22 January, 1987.

	2.  The Council instructs the officers of the AMS to hold a mail
ballot of the membership, after the January 1988 annual meeting, but before
February 1988, on the substance of the two motions concerning issues of 
federal funding of research in mathematics.

	3.  The Council at its meeting of 4 August 1987 will adopt the
specific wording of the motions to appear on the mail ballot.

	The President is requested to distribute drafts of these motions as
early as possible to the Council for comment and criticism.

	4.  The Committee on Science Policy is requested to submit to the May
meeting of the EC/BT its suggested wording for these motions.  Other interested
groups are also encouraged to submit possible wording to that EC/BT meeting.

	5.  The Council of 4 August 1987 should decide whether to recommend
that the Business Meeting table the two motions before it in view of the
upcoming mail ballot.

	6.  The NOTICES of June 1987 should include a prominent announcement
of the plans above.

The order of business was interrupted at 9:30 PM for an executive session that
extended until 10:50.  Items 4.5 and 4.6 were handled during the executive
session.

4.2 AUTOMATIC THEOREM PROVING:  The Fredkin Foundation of Cambridge, MA,
through the Carnegie Mellon University and the good offices of Dr. Raj Reddy,
has established three prizes in Automatic Theorem Proving.  They are:

	l.  Leibniz Prize "for the proof of a 'substantial' theorem in
	which the computer played a major role."

	2. Milestone Prize "for foundational work in ATP".

	3. Current Prize "for ongoing research [in ATP] that shows promise."

The Society was asked to administer the prizes.  The Council had agreed that
the Society should appoint a committee to administer the Leibniz Prize and to
study the proposal with respect to the Current and Milestone Prizes.  The
Committee, consisting of David Mumford, Chairman, Jack Schwartz, and John
Selfridge, reported.  It had no recommendation with respect to the Leibniz 
Prize at this time.  There are four recommendations with respect to the Current
and Milestone Prizes in the attached report.  The first is that the Society 
undertake the responsibility for these two prizes subject to the approval of
Professor Woodrow W. Bledsoe and the Fredkin Foundation, which the Secretary
secured.  The third and fourth are procedural.

The Council approved the four recommendations.

4.3 TERMS OF JOURNAL EDITORS:  The Editorial Committee of the Journal of the 
AMS proposed that the terms of the editors be three years with the possibility
of re-election.  In order to establish an equitable rotation of membership,
they also proposed that the initial appointments terminate in December of the
indicated year as listed below.

			Artin 	 1991
			Lawson	 1990
			Melrose  1989
			Schmid   1989
			Tarjan   1991

The Council approved.

4.4 RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP:  The EC of 20-22 November 1986 recommended that
beginning with the fellowshps of 1988 the name be changed to the American
Mathematical Society Centennial Fellowships.  The Council approved.

4.5 NOMINATIONS:  The Council made the following nominations for the election
of 1987.

President Elect:		William Browder

Vice President			James G. Glimm
(2 positions)			Barry Simon
				William P. Thurston

Associate Secretary:		Andy Roy Magid
(2 positions)			Lance W. Small

Trustee:			Frederick W. Gehring

Member-at-Large:		Richard W. Beals
(5 positions)			Johnny E. Brown
				Lawrence Craig Evans
				Albert Marden
				Diana Frost Shelstad
				Donald Solitar
				Harold M. Stark

The Council further made the following nominations to certain committees.

Editorial Committees
  Bulletin			Roger E. Howe

Colloquium			Raoul H. Bott

Mathematical Reviews		Hans F. Weinberger

Mathematical Surveys		M. Susan Montgomery

Mathematics of Computation      Donald Goldfarb

Proceedings			Frederick R. Cohen
				Barbara L. Keyfitz
				George C. Papanicolaou
				Jonathan M. Rosenberg
				James E. West
				Warren J. Wong

Transactions & Memoirs		James E. Baumgartner
				Roger D. Nussbaum
				Carl Pomerance

Committee to Monitor Prob.
  in Communication		Richard S. Palais

It was understood that these nominations were conditional in that each nominee
is required to be a member.  The Secretary is to verify membership.

The Council requested the Nominating Committee to propose one more candidate
for vice-president and one more for the Committee to Monitor Problems in
Communication.

In the course of considering proposed nominations, the possible nomination of a
Trustee simultaneously to be vice-president was rejected and the suggestion
made that a person holding one office should not be nominated for another. [The
Secretary notes, however, that there is repeated precedent for holding two
elective offices at the same time.]  It was proposed that the Nominating
Committee be advised not to nominate an individual who has recently lost an
election for that office. [Again the Secretary notes precedent to the
contrary.]  The Council frowned on the prospect of nominating a member of the
Nominating Committee to be a candidate in a contested election.

4.6 TRANSACTIONS EDITOR:  Robert D. Edwards submitted his resignation from the
Editorial Committee of the Transactions and the Council.  The Council accepted
the resignation.

The Editorial Committee had appointed James W. Cannon to be associate editor to
cover the field formerly covered by Edwards.  The Committee recommended that
Cannon be elected to the Editorial Committee of the Transactions and Memoirs.
The term extends through 1989.  The Council elected Cannon to the Editorial
Committee of the Transactions and Memoirs subject to the approval of the
Trustees.

OFFICERS

5.1 REPORT OF THE TREASURER.  The auditor's report appeared subsequent to the
meeting of the Council and is attached to these minutes.

5.2 RETIRING PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:  Ex-President Irving Kaplansky requested the
indulgence of the Council so that he may give his retiring presidential address
at a somewhat later time than that suggested in the bylaws.  The Council
readily acceded.

NEW BUSINESS:

9.1 EDITORIAL BOARDS:  In the attached letter, Irwin Kra proposed that the
system of selecting editors be changed so that editors are appointed by an
elected Editorial Board Appointments Committee.  The Council referred the
matter to the EC.

9.2 GOVERNMENT SPEAKER:  It has been observed that the Government Speaker does
not draw well when not properly publicized.  This is an embarrassment when a
representative of distinction has been importuned to speak, as in San Antonio.
Proper publicity requires that the speaker be listed in the preliminary
announcement.  It has been proposed that no government speaker be scheduled if
none has been secured by the time that the preliminary announcement goes to
press.  The Council referred the matter to the Committee on Sciencer Policy.

9.3 NOMINATION BY PETITION:  At the request of the Executive Committee of the
Association for Women in Mathematics, Professor Cora Sadosky moved that the
Council rescind the action of the Council of 20 January 1987 that limits
repeated nomination by petition.  A statement from AWM is attached.  The motion
failed.

9.4 SOME MATHEMATICAL QUESTIONS IN BIOLOGY:  For many years the Society, 
sometimes in cooperation with SIAM, has sponsored a symposium with that title
at the annual meeting of AAAS.  Attendence has been decreasing and AAAS is no
longer receptive.  On the other hand, the symposia produce a good book series
and societies of specialists in biology are interested.  Specifically, it
appears that the Society and the Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB), with
or without SIAM, could find it practical to sponsor the symposium, meeting in
alternate years with the Federation of American Societies for Experimental
Biology (FASEB) and the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS).
Much larger attendance in these locations is predicted compared with the
former arrangements with AAAS.  The suggestion for the change of venue arose
informally with representatives of SMB, FASEB, and AIBS.  the Executive
Director has been authroized to explore the possibilities.  The Council
approved the change in location of this established series subject to the
approval of the arrangements by the Trustees.

INFORAMTION AND RECORD

2.1 PROCEEDINGS EDITORS:  The Council was informed that the PROCEEDINGS intends
that each article carry a notation of the name of the editor who accepts it.

2.2 RESEARCH FELLLOWSHPS:  In the recent competition, fellowships were awarded
to Richard M. Hain of the University of Washington and William B. Jacob of
Oregon State University.

EXECUTIVE SESSION OF 25 APRIL 1987

OLD BUSINESS

This item was handled in two parts, the first being in open meeting to give 
visitors an opportunity to express opinions.

8.1	JOINT POLICY BOARD FOR MATHEMATICS.  This organization is a consortium
of AMS, MAA and SIAM.  It maintains the "Washington Presence" through an
officer whose current title is Head, Office of Governmental and Public Affairs,
but initially and provisionally was Coordinator of Federal Relations for the
Mathematical Sciences.

When the Society entered into this consortium, the Council passed the following
resolution on 7 August 1983.

	That the Council endorse the creation of the office of Coordinator
	of Federal Relations for Mathematics.  Any AMS financial commitments
	must be approved by the AMS Trustees.  The Council charges the
	Committee on Science Policy to evaluate the performance of the
	office, to advise the President thereon, to report its findings
	to the Council not later than its January 1985 meeting, and to
	make recommendations at that time regarding the continuation of
	the office.  Should the office be continued, no one person shall
	serve longer than four years as its head.

It is the last sentence of the resolution that was brought up for consideration
inasmuch as 1987 is the fourth year of incumbency of Kenneth Hoffman.

The operation of JPBM is monitored by the Directors Committee, consisting of
the executive directors of the three organizations.  The Agenda & Budget
Committee, which is a planning committee for the EC/BT, also reviewed the
problem.

The Directors Committee approved the following motion directed to JPBM.

	In view of what we believe to be Kenneth Hoffman's overall
	effectiveness in advancing the goals of AMS, MAA, and SIAM,
	the Directors Committee of JPBM urges that he be continued
	as Head of the Office of Governmental and Public Affairs at
	least through 1988, to maintain momentum and ensure continuity.

	The Committee also urges that each of the three sponsoring 
	societies avoid taking unilateral actions with respect to 
	the Office, to the maximum extent possible, recognizing that
	the office is an arm of JPBM.

The ABC endorsed the position in the motion of the Directors and recommended
the following Proposed Motion.

Proposed Motion:

	The Council rescinds its action of 7 August 1983 that limits
	the tenure of a person in the office provisionally known as
	Coordinator of Federal Relations and now called Head, Office
	of Governmental and Public Affairs.

The Council however, passed the following two motions.  First, the Council
agree to suspend the limit on the term of the office of the Head, Office of
Governmental and Public Affairs and to recommend extension of the term of
Kenneth Hoffman at least through 1988.  The Council further recommended the
formation of a joint committee of the members of JPBM to study the appropriate
tenure of that office.  Second, the Council agreed that every four years,
beginning in 1988, a subcommittee of the Council is to review the functioning
of the office of Governmental and Public Affairs and of its impact and is to
report to the Council.

					Everett Pitcher
					Secretary