The following letter has been sent to all Ph. D. granting mathematics departments November 11, 1975 Dear Colleague: The Council of the American Mathematical Society, at its meeting on 19 August 1975, asked me to address a letter to all chairmen of mathematics departments which award the Ph. D. degree, concerning the present employment situation. At present most graduate students working toward a Ph. D. in "pure" mathematics hope for an academic career, and it is likely that the vast majority of these Ph. D. •s will remain dependent on teaching for their long term employment. You certainly know that new Ph. D. 1s in mathematics have difficulties finding their first academic jobs, and that people have difficulties, perhaps even greater difficulties, in getting a second job. The AMS Committee on Employment and Educational Policy estimates, on the basis of careful studies, that for several years to come, the number of new long term posi­ tions in colleges and universities will be substantially lower than the current production rate of Ph. D.'s in "pure" mathematics. I refer you, for more precise information, to R. D. An­ derson's "Doctorates and Jobs", Notices AMS, November 1974 and to Wendell Fleming's "Future Job Prospects for Ph. D.'s in the Mathematical Sciences", Notices AMS, December 1975. While long term predictions in such matters are sometimes unreliable (the very opti­ mistic predictions in the so-called COSRIMS Report of 1968 were also made by competent people on the basis of careful studies) we must face the present difficulties and the difficul­ ties which we will certainly encounter in the foreseeable future, responsibly. We have re­ sponsibilities to our discipline, to our universities, and to our students. The mathematical profession cannot (and I believe should not) set quotas for the num­ ber of people admitted to Ph. D. studies in order to insure economic security to all holders of the degree. Also, in order that American mathematics should not lose the momentum it now possesses, we must insure the steady influx of highly talented young people into re­ search and teaching. Neither should the present economic difficulties weaken our efforts to attract into mathematics talented young people from groups hitherto underrepresented in scientific endeavor, such as women and blacks. On the other hand, we owe our students complete candor. A young man or woman em­ barking on a program of graduate studies in mathematics should do so in full awareness of the economic difficulties he or she may face, and not expect the Ph. D. to guarantee a rela­ tively easy way of making a living. I believe that this awareness will not deprive our profes­ sion of the best people. After all, most mathematicians now over 60 started their education under even bleaker economic conditions. I urge you, in my name and in the name of the Council, to inform current and prospec­ tive graduate students of the employment situation as shown by the AMS studies and, equally important, of the employment record of recent Ph. D.'s from your own department. To those students who, in spite of the poor employment prospects, are determined to become mathematicians and are qualified to do so, we owe an education which will maximize their chances of gainful professional employment. The Council of the AMS believes that all Ph. D. candidates in "pure" mathematics should be encouraged to achieve flexibility in their response to the employment situation. They can do so by also studying some branch of "ap­ plied" mathematics, or by developing in some other way a considerable breadth in their mathematical and scientific interest. I myself feel that this would, apart from all economic considerations, also make our students better mathematicians, and would even justify the lengthening of the time needed to achieve a Ph. D. Sincerely yours, Lipman Bers President, AMS -----~~:>---·~-·--- OF THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY Everett Pitcher and Gordon L. Walker, Editors Hans Samelson, Associate Editor CONTENTS FUTURE JOB PROSPECTS FOR PH.D's IN THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES ..•.••••..•••••••.•.••••.••••••••.•. , • 377 SOME THOUGHTS ON THE ROLE OF APPLICATIONS •••••..•.•• 380 ASSISTANTSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS IN MATHEMATICS IN 1976-1977 I. FOR GRADUATE STUDY AT UNIVERSITIES . • • • • • . 381 II. STIPENDS FOR STUDY AND TRAVEL .••••••...• , • • 439 Graduate Support .•••••.•• , •••.•••• 439 Postdoctoral Support •••••••••..•••.• 441 Travel and Study Abroad ••••••••••••• 447 Study in U.S. for Foreign Nationals .•••• 450 Sources of Fellowship Information .••••• 450 TAX STATUS OF GRANTS .•••••••.•. , • • . • • • • • • • • • . • • . • 451 INDEX OF ABSTRACTS, Volume 22 .•.••••.• , .•••••.••• , . A-755 INDEX, Volume 22 .•. , •••.••••••••••.• , ••• , •••••••. A-787 FOREWORD The seventeenth Special Issue of these c/llotiai) contains lists of assistantships and fellowships available in mathe­ matics and related sciences for the academic year 1976-1977 for graduate study at universities and stipends available for travel and study. Indexes for abstracts and articles published in these c/llotiai) during 1975, and a short article on the tax status of grants are also included. The list of assistantships and fellowships at universities includes 456 departments of mathematics, applied mathe­ matics, statistics, computer science, and related mathematical disciplines; these represent 333 colleges and universi­ ties. Institutions in the United states are listed alphabetically by state, followed by Canadian institutions. Abbreviations used in the section on graduate study Under the DEGREES AWARDED column the following terms have beed used: Bachelor's by inst. Number of bachelor's degrees awarded by the institution Bachelor's by dept. Number of degrees awarded by the department Master's by dept. Number of master's degrees awarded by the department Ph, D. (1973-1975 incl.) Doctoral degrees awarded during the last three years (1972-1973, 1973-1974, and 1974-1975) A&NT Algebra and Number Theory G&T Geometry and Topology L Logic A&FA Analysis and Functional Analysis P&S Pro babUity and statistics cs Computer Science and Numerical Analysis AM Applied Mathematics Under the SERVICE REQUIRED column, hours per week section: c Contact hours Please aft"IX the peel-off label on these cJ{oliui) to correspondence with the Society concerning fiscal matters, changes of address, promotions, or when placing orders for books and journals. The cJ{oliui) of the American Mathematical Society is published by the American Mathematical Society, P. 0. Box 6248, Providence, Rhode Island 02940, in January, February, April, June, August, October, November, and December. Subscription prices for the 1975 volume (Volume 22) are list $14.00, member $7.00. Subscription prices for the 1976 volume (Volume 23) are list $19.00, member $9.50. The subscription price for members is included in the annual dues. Back issues of the cJ{oliui) are available for a two year period only and cost $2.88 per issue list price, $2.16 per issue member price for Volume 21 (1974) and $3.65 per issue list price, $2.74 per issue member price for Volume 22. Orders for subscriptions or back issues must be accompanied by payment and should be sent to the Society at P. 0. Box 1571, Annex Station, Providence, Rhode Island 02901. Other corre­ spondence should be addressed toP. 0. Box 6248, Providence, Rhode Island 02940. Second class postage paid at Providence, Rhode Island, and additional mailing offices. Copyright© 1975 by the American Mathematical Society Printed in the United States of America FUTURE JOB PROSPECTS FOR PH.D.'s IN THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES by Wendell H. Fleming In this article we discuss employment pros- rollments, and on the other by the amount of pects in the United States during the next ten money available for higher education. years (1975-1985) for Ph. D. •s in the mathemati- Course enrollments. The following table cal sciences. Students who begin a Ph. D. program gives the annual number of live births in the in fall 1976 may expect to enter the job market United States from 1950 to 1973, according to during the middle of this period. Most tenure de- the Statistical Abstract of the United States. cisions regarding present junior faculty and those Live Births Live Births now in graduate school who will soon enter col­ Year (in thousands) Year (in thousands) lege teaching will be made before 1985. The term "mathematical sciences" refers 1950 3632 1962 4167 both to pure mathematics and to the areas of ap­ 1951 3823 1963 4098 plied mathematics (operations research, statis­ 1952 3913 1964 4027 tics computer science, physical applications, 1953 3965 1965 3760 etc.'). Currently about 1, 200 new mathematical 1954 4078 1966 3606 science Ph.D, •s per year are produced in the 1955 4104 1967 3521 United States. Roughly half are in pure mathe­ 1956 4163 1968 3502 matics and half in an applied area. In this article 1957 4255 1969 3600 the term "mathematician" will refer to a person 1958 4204 1970 3731 trained in any of the mathematical sciences. We 1959 4245 1971 3559* shall first discuss the academic job market in 1960 4258 1972 3256* some detail. At the end of the article, job possi­ 1961 4268 1973 3141* bilities in industry, government, and in other These data give a close countries will be discussed briefly. approximation to the size of the group of 18-19 year olds for the Job prospects in mathematical science de­ years partments at four-year colleges and universities. 1968 through 1991. It increases at about 2% per year until 1975, is almost stable until For the last few years the total number of mathe­ 1979, then decreases matics faculty has remained nearly constant, at by over 25% from 1980 to 1991. According to a Census Bureau survey, between 17 000 and 18, 000 following a period of col­ rapid exp~sion during the 1960s. No appreciable lege enrollments of full-time student.s were .