International Mathematical Union

History

The IMU was established in 1920, but dissolved in September 1932 and reestablished in 1950 at the Constitutive Convention in New York, de jure on September 10, 1951, when ten countries had become members. The last milestone was the General Assembly in March 1952, in Rome, Italy where the activities of the new IMU were inaugurated and the first Executive Committee, President and various commissions were elected. In 1952 the IMU was also readmitted to the ICSU. The past president of the Union is Carlos Kenig (2019–2022). The current president is Hiraku Nakajima.

At the 16th meeting of the IMU General Assembly in Bangalore, India, in August 2010, Berlin was chosen as the location of the permanent office of the IMU, which was opened on January 1, 2011, and is hosted by the Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS), an institute of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community, with about 120 scientists engaging in mathematical research applied to complex problems in industry and commerce.

Commissions and committees

IMU has a close relationship to mathematics education through its International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI). This commission is organized similarly to IMU with its own Executive Committee and General Assembly.

Developing countries are a high priority for the IMU and a significant percentage of its budget, including grants received from individuals, mathematical societies, foundations, and funding agencies, is spent on activities for developing countries. Since 2011 this has been coordinated by the Commission for Developing Countries (CDC).

The Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM) is concerned with issues related to women in mathematics worldwide. It organizes the World Meeting for Women in Mathematics ((\mathrm{WM})^2) as a satellite event of ICM.

The International Commission on the History of Mathematics (ICHM) is operated jointly by the IMU and the Division of the History of Science (DHS) of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS).

The Committee on Electronic Information and Communication (CEIC) advises IMU on matters concerning mathematical information, communication, and publishing.

Prizes

The scientific prizes awarded by the IMU, in the quadrennial International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), are deemed to be some of the highest distinctions in the mathematical world. These are:

• the Fields Medals (two to four awarded per Congress, since 1936);
• the IMU Abacus Medal (previously known as the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize; awarded since 1986);
• the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize (since 2006);
• the Chern Medal (since 2010); and
• the Leelavati Award (since 2010).

Membership and General Assembly

The IMU's members are Member Countries and each Member country is represented through an Adhering Organization, which may be its principal academy, a mathematical society, its research council or some other institution or association of institutions, or an appropriate agency of its government. A country starting to develop its mathematical culture and interested in building links with mathematicians all over the world is invited to join IMU as an Associate Member. For the purpose of facilitating jointly sponsored activities and jointly pursuing the objectives of the IMU, multinational mathematical societies and professional societies can join IMU as an Affiliate Member. Every four years, the IMU membership gathers in a General Assembly (GA), which consists of delegates appointed by the Adhering Organizations, together with the members of the executive committee. All important decisions are made at the GA, including the election of the officers, establishment of commissions, the approval of the budget, and any changes to the statutes and by-laws.

Members and Associate Members

The IMU has 83 (full) Member countries and two Associate Members (Bangladesh and Paraguay, marked below by light grey background).

Affiliate members

The IMU has five affiliate members:

• African Mathematical Union (AMU)
• European Mathematical Society (EMS)
• Mathematical Council of the Americas (MCofA)
• Southeast Asian Mathematical Society (SEAMS)
• Unión Matemática de América Latina y el Caribe (UMALCA)

Organization and Executive Committee

The International Mathematical Union is administered by an executive committee (EC) which conducts the business of the Union. The EC consists of the President, two vice-presidents, the Secretary, six Members-at-Large, all elected for a term of four years, and the Past President. The EC is responsible for all policy matters and for tasks, such as choosing the members of the ICM Program Committee and various prize committees.

Publications

Every two months IMU publishes an electronic newsletter, IMU-Net, that aims to improve communication between IMU and the worldwide mathematical community by reporting on decisions and recommendations of the Union, major international mathematical events and developments, and on other topics of general mathematical interest. IMU Bulletins are published annually with the aim to inform IMU's members about the Union's current activities. In 2009 IMU published the document Best Current Practices for Journals.

IMU’s Involvement in developing countries

The IMU took its first organized steps towards the promotion of mathematics in developing countries in the early 1970s and has, since then supported various activities. In 2010 IMU formed the Commission for Developing Countries (CDC) which brings together all of the past and current initiatives in support of mathematics and mathematicians in the developing world.

Some IMU Supported Initiatives:

• Grants Program for Mathematicians: The Commission for Developing Countries supports research travel of mathematicians based in developing countries as well as mathematics research conferences in the developing world through its Grants Program which is open to mathematicians throughout the developing world, including countries that are not (yet) members of the IMU.
• African Mathematics Millennium Science Initiative (AMMSI) is a network of mathematics centers in sub-Saharan Africa that organizes conferences and workshops, visiting lectureships and an extensive scholarship program for mathematics graduate students doing PhD work on the African continent.
• Mentoring African Research in Mathematics (MARM): IMU supported the London Mathematical Society (LMS) in founding the MARM programme, which supports mathematics and its teaching in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa via a mentoring partnership between mathematicians in the United Kingdom and African colleagues, together with their students. It focuses on cultivating long-term mentoring relations between individual mathematicians and students.
• Volunteer Lecturer Program (VLP) of IMU identifies mathematicians interested in contributing to the formation of young mathematicians in the developing world. The Volunteer Lecturer Program maintains a database of mathematic volunteers willing to offer month-long intensive courses at the advanced undergraduate or graduate level in degree programmes at universities in the developing world. IMU also seeks applications from universities and mathematics degree programmes in the developing world that are in need of volunteer lecturers, and that can provide the necessary conditions for productive collaboration in the teaching of advanced mathematics.

IMU also supports the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) with its programmes, exhibits and workshops in emerging countries, especially in Asia and Africa.

IMU released a report in 2008, Mathematics in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities, on the current state of mathematics in Africa and on opportunities for new initiatives to support mathematical development. In 2014, the IMU's Commission for Developing Countries CDC released an update of the report.

Additionally, reports about Mathematics in Latin America and the Caribbean and South East Asia. Mathematics in Latin America report were published.

In July 2014 IMU released the report: The International Mathematical Union in the Developing World: Past, Present and Future (July 2014).

MENAO Symposium at the ICM

In 2014, the IMU held a day-long symposium prior to the opening of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), entitled Mathematics in Emerging Nations: Achievements and Opportunities (MENAO). Approximately 260 participants from around the world, including representatives of embassies, scientific institutions, private business and foundations attended this session. Attendees heard inspiring stories of individual mathematicians and specific developing nations.

Presidents

List of presidents of the International Mathematical Union from 1952 to the present:

1952–1954: USA Marshall Harvey Stone (vice: France Émile Borel, Germany Erich Kamke)

1955–1958: Germany Heinz Hopf (vice: France Arnaud Denjoy, GBR W. V. D. Hodge)

1959–1962: Finland Rolf Nevanlinna (vice: Soviet Union Pavel Alexandrov, USA Marston Morse)

1963–1966: Switzerland Georges de Rham (vice: France Henri Cartan, Poland Kazimierz Kuratowski)

1967–1970: France Henri Cartan (vice: Soviet Union Mikhail Lavrentyev, USA Deane Montgomery)

1971–1974: India K. S. Chandrasekharan (vice: USA Abraham Adrian Albert, Soviet Union Lev Pontryagin)

1975–1978: USA Deane Montgomery (vice: GBR J. W. S. Cassels, Romania Miron Nicolescu, Romania Gheorghe Vrânceanu)

1979–1982: Sweden Lennart Carleson (vice: Japan Masayoshi Nagata, Soviet Union Yuri Vasilyevich Prokhorov)

1983–1986: Germany Jürgen Moser (vice: Soviet Union Ludvig Faddeev, France Jean-Pierre Serre)

1987–1990: Soviet Union Ludvig Faddeev (vice: Austria Walter Feit, Sweden Lars Hörmander)

1991–1994: France Jacques-Louis Lions (vice: GBR John H. Coates, USA David Mumford)

1995–1998: USA David Mumford (vice: Russia Vladimir Arnold, Germany Albrecht Dold)

1999–2002: Brazil Jacob Palis (vice: GBR Simon Donaldson, Japan Shigefumi Mori)

2003–2006: GBR John M. Ball (vice: France Jean-Michel Bismut, Japan Masaki Kashiwara)

2007–2010: Hungary László Lovász (vice: China Zhi-Ming Ma, Italy Claudio Procesi)

2011–2014: Belgium Ingrid Daubechies (vice: France Christiane Rousseau, Brazil Marcelo Viana)

2015–2018: Japan Shigefumi Mori (vice: Argentina Alicia Dickenstein, New Zealand Vaughan Jones)

2019–2022: Argentina Carlos Kenig (vice: Australia Nalini Joshi, South Africa Loyiso Nongxa)

2023–2026: JapanHiraku Nakajima (vice: GBR Ulrike Tillmann, Colombia Tatiana Toro)

References

References

1. "International Mathematical Union (IMU): sorted by names".
2. "IMU General Assembly in Bangalore, India in August 2010".
3. "Weierstrass Institute".
4. Communication, IMU Committee on Electronic Information and. "CEIC".
5. (5 July 2022). "IAS Scholars Win IMU Awards 2022 for Mathematical Achievement, including Fields Medal – IAS News | Institute for Advanced Study".
6. (2022-06-25). "IMU awards".
7. "International Mathematical Union (IMU): Member Countries".
8. "International Mathematical Union (IMU): Affiliate Member".
9. "International Mathematical Union (IMU): Executive Committee".
10. "Best Current Practices for Journals".
11. Countries, IMU Commission for Developing. "Grants - CDC".
12. "Mathematics in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities".
13. "''Mathematics in Africa'' 2014 Update".
14. "''The International Mathematical Union in the Developing World''".
15. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eODi4b5d27Y&list=PL0c-546bsozhAecE1btXl18BO8p1fL_7u here MENAO Channel] at Youtube
16. MENAO (12 August 2014)[http://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/CDC/cdc-uploads/menao_doku_141120.pdf Symposium Report: Mathematics in Emerging Nations: Achievements and Opportunities]