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February 2003 FOCUS Major Donation Announced for New MAA Conference Center FOCUS February 2003 FOCUS is published by the Mathematical Association of America in January, February, March, April, May/June, FOCUS August/September, October, November, and December. February 2003 Editor: Fernando Gouvêa, Colby College; [email protected] Volume 23, Number 2 Managing Editor: Carol Baxter, MAA [email protected] Senior Writer: Harry Waldman, MAA Inside [email protected] Please address advertising inquiries to: Carol Baxter, MAA; [email protected] 3Major Donation Announced for New MAA Conference Center President: Ronald L. Graham By G. L. Alexanderson First Vice-President: Carl C. Cowen, Second Vice-President: Joseph A. Gallian, Secretary: 6So You Think You Want to be in Pictures… Martha J. Siegel, Associate Secretary: James By Dan Rockmore J. Tattersall, Treasurer: John W. Kenelly Executive Director: Tina H. Straley 8 The Kentucky Section Goes High-Tech: The tale of an e-newsletter Associate Executive Director and Director By Alex McAllister of Publications and Electronic Services: Donald J. Albers 10 Biology and Mathematics FOCUS Editorial Board: Gerald By Victor Katz Alexanderson; Donna Beers; J. Kevin Colligan; Ed Dubinsky; Bill Hawkins; Dan Kalman; Peter Renz; Annie Selden; Jon Scott; 14 Statistical Based Evidence that Web-Based Homework Helps Ravi Vakil. By L. Hirsch and C. Weibel Letters to the editor should be addressed to Fernando Gouvêa, Colby College, Dept. of 15 Short Takes Mathematics, Waterville, ME 04901, or by email to [email protected]. 16 Contributed Paper Sessions for MathFest 2003 Subscription and membership questions should be directed to the MAA Customer Service Center, 800-331-1622; e-mail: 20 MAA Awards Announced at Baltimore Joint Meetings [email protected]; (301) 617-7800 (outside U.S. and Canada); fax: (301) 206-9789. 21 Announcing MAA’s PMET Program Copyright © 2003 by the Mathematical Association of America (Incorporated). 22 Employment Opportunities Educational institutions may reproduce articles for their own use, but not for sale, provided that the following citation is used: 23 MAA Section Meeting Schedule 2003 “Reprinted with permission of FOCUS, the newsletter of the Mathematical Association of America (Incorporated).” Periodicals postage paid at Washington, DC and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: On the cover: Virginia and Paul Halmos, Los Gatos, California, 2002. Send address changes to FOCUS, Photograph courtesy of Leonard Klosinski. Mathematical Association of America, P.O. Box 90973, Washington, DC 20090-0973. ISSN: 0731-2040; Printed in the United States FOCUS Deadlines of America. August/September October November Editorial Copy July 8 September 16 Display Ads July 10 August 20 September 24 Employment Ads June 11 August 13 September 10 2 February 2003 FOCUS Major Donation Announced for New MAA Conference Center By G. L. Alexanderson The MAA recently received a write. But Paul Halmos has gift of $3 million from Paul and repeatedly written memo- Virginia Halmos to establish a rable and elegant expository Mathematical Sciences Confer- papers, with a style that is ence Center in Washington, DC. easily recognizable as his The Association plans to restore own. In the same work, page to its former charm the exterior 403, he wrote “I was, in I of its historic carriage house, one think decreasing order of of the three buildings in the MAA quality, a writer, an editor, a complex in the Dupont Circle teacher, and a research district, and to renovate com- mathematician.” pletely the interior to accommo- date conferences of up to 60 He has left his mark on writ- people, with ample additional ten mathematics in two space for mathematicians to meet “I am proud to be a teacher—Teaching is an ephemeral sub- commonly observed ways: in smaller groups or to work in- ject. It is like playing the violin. The piece is over, and it’s gone. he introduced “iff” as an ab- dividually. Up to now math- breviation for “if and only if” The student is taught, and the teaching is gone.” ematical meetings at the MAA and denoted the end of a are confined to two small confer- choose to enhance even further the abil- proof with what is some- ence rooms in the Vaughn Building or, if times known as a tombstone and now ity of the MAA to carry on this tradition too large, they are held in facilities in of producing fine exposition by creating often called a “halmos.” Washington hotels. Virginia Halmos, an alumna of Vassar The gift will fund the renovation and College, pursued graduate work in phi- construction of the space, along with fur- losophy at Brown. She and Paul married nishing and equipping the interior to in 1945 and since then she has been a provide a completely modern meeting supporter and partner to Paul through- facility. Beyond capital expenditures, the out his wide-ranging career. Larry gift will provide funds that will support Wallen, a longtime friend and mathema- the programs in the Center, which the tician at the University of Hawaii, in his donors envision as an ongoing series of contribution to the volume Paul Halmos: mathematically intensive workshops, Celebrating 50 Years of Mathematics symposia and seminars. Programs will (Springer, 1991), wrote of her: “Late that reflect the range of ideas and topics for summer [1955] I met Virginia (Ginger) which the MAA has been long known Halmos, a striking woman I recall think- through its many fine publications as ing. Any picture of Paul that omits Gin- well as programs at sectional and na- ger is grossly incomplete. In the first tional meetings. place, she’s crucial to keeping the entropy of the Halmos household improbably Paul Halmos has a long association with small and in keeping Paul and the cats One student’s remarked of Halmos’ lec- the MAA and a lifetime commitment to hale and hearty. This, of course, doesn’t tures: “…He often asked us to be mathematical exposition. He was editor define Ginger. She’s a woman of remark- ‘mindreaders,’ and tell us what he was of the American Mathematical Monthly able intelligence with a fine wit that not thinking.” from 1982 to 1986, and in 2000 he was everybody is privy to. She’s the ecologi- awarded the MAA’s Gung-Hu Award for this meeting facility. In his cal Halmos who fishes floundering liz- Distinguished Service to Mathematics. ards from the pool and worries about “Automathography,” I Want To Be a The Association was founded in 1915 to Mathematician (Springer, 1985), page wetlands.” As interested as she is in be- provide a home for the Monthly and, 390, Halmos explained the difference ing a good citizen of her community with through its many other publications, her volunteer work, in quietly support- between a survey [of research results] starting with the Carus Monographs in and an expository paper—something for ing animal welfare programs, and in fol- 1925, it has been an active proponent of the reader who is not an expert but is lowing her strong interest in literature good mathematical exposition ever since. (even in Latin), she has nevertheless lived curious about the subject, pointing out It is not surprising then that Professor that the latter kind of paper is hard to most of her life around mathematicians Halmos and his wife, Virginia, should and has an extensive knowledge of math- 3 FOCUS February 2003 ematical culture. With happy memories briefly to Illinois. Since then he has of visits to Oberwolfach, Ginger has held faculty positions at the following been an enthusiastic force behind the universities: Illinois, Syracuse, Chi- establishment of the MAA Conference cago, Michigan (Ann Arbor), Hawaii, Center since conversations on possibili- California (Santa Barbara), Indiana, ties began. Paul Halmos’ own fond remi- and Santa Clara, where he became pro- niscences of Oberwolfach appear in his’ fessor emeritus in 1995. He and his “Automathography,” pp. 384-87. wife now live in Los Gatos, California. Professor Wallen mentioned cats. To Along the way Professor Halmos has know Paul and Ginger Halmos well one held visiting appointments at Harvard, has to know that they are both avid ani- Tulane, Montevideo, Miami (Florida), mal lovers. They have in recent years had California (Berkeley), Washington (Se- cats but they love dogs equally well. Don attle), Edinburgh, Chiao Tung (Tai- Albers, in one of his interviews with wan), and Western Australia, as well as Paul, noted that during the interview several visits to the IAS. He has writ- Paul had, sitting on his lap, Pizzicato (a ten over 100 research papers and many suitable name for a cat owned by some- reviews in his principal research fields one interested in words and music). of operator theory, algebraic logic, and When asked whether anything about ergodic theory, with additional work cats especially appealed to him, Paul re- in topological groups, probability, sta- plied: “Do animals have souls? People tistics, and Boolean algebras. Two vol- debate the subject, and I stand firmly on umes of his work appear as Selecta, the affirmative. But what is it that ap- Paul Halmos with Pizzicato. published by Springer-Verlag. peals? Well, they look nice, they’re in- the process of discovery. Of all the things teresting, they’re loving, they’re lovable, Honors have included a Guggenheim I saw in Dr. Halmos’ class I never saw and somehow one is in touch with an- Fellowship, membership in the Royal someone yawn and look at the clock.” other soul. They enlarge one’s life a little Society of Edinburgh and the Hungar- Another wrote: “That quarter the only bit.” ian Academy of Sciences, and honorary class I looked forward to was Paul doctorates from St. Andrews, DePauw, Halmos’. Our classroom discussions For his expository writing Paul Halmos Waterloo, and Kalamazoo. were always animated, interesting, and has received from the MAA the even sometimes humorous… He often Chauvenet Prize (1948), two Lester R.
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