Program for the Annual Meeting in Cincinnati begins on page 20 Notices of the American Mathematical Society January 1982, Issue 215 Volume 29, Number 1, Pages 1-128 Providence, Rhode Island USA ISSN 0002-9920 CALENDAR OF AMS MEETINGS THIS CALENDAR lists all meetings which have been approved by the Council prior to the date this issue of the Notices was sent to press. The summer and annual meetings are joint meetings of the Mathematical Association of America and the Ameri· can Mathematical Society. The meeting dates which fall rather far in the future are subject to change; this is particularly true of meetings to which no numbers have yet been assigned. Programs of the meetings will appear in the issues indicated below. First and second announcements of the meetings will have appeared in earlier issues. ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS presented at a meeting of the Society are published in the journal Abstracts of papers presented to the American Mathematical Society in the issue corresponding to that of the Notices which contains the program of the meet· ing. Abstracts should be submitted on special forms which are available in many departments of mathematics and from the office of the Society in Providence. Abstracts of papers to be presented at the meeting must be received at the headquarters of the Society in Providence, Rhode Island, on or before the deadline given below for the meeting. Note that the deadline for ab· stracts submitted for consideration for presentation at special sessions is usually three weeks earlier than that specified below. For additional information consult the meeting announcement and the list of organizers of special sessions. MEETING ABSTRACT NUMBER DATE PLACE DEADLINE ISSUE 793 March 16-17, 1982 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania JANUARY 18 February 794 April 16-17, 1982 Madison, Wisconsin FEBRUARY 22 April 795 june 16-17, 1982 Bellingham, Washington APRIL 19 june 796 August 23-27, 1982 Tor onto, Ontario, Canada JUNE 7 August (86th Summer Meeting) November 19-20, 1982 Monterey, California january 5-9, 1983 Denver, Colorado (89th Annual Meeting) August 8-12, 1983 Albany, New York 87th Summer Meeting) january 25-29, 1984 Louisville, Kentucky 90th Annual Meeting) january 9-13, 1985 Anaheim, California (91 st Annual Meeting) january 21-25, 1987 San Antonio, Texas (93rd Annual Meeting) DEADLINES: Advertising: (February issue) january 28 (April issue) March 4 News/Special Meetings: (February issue) january 11 (April issue ) February 15 OTHER EVENTS SPONSORED BY THE SOCIETY April 12-15, 1982, AMS Symposium on Several Complex Variables, University of Wisconsin, Madison. This issue, page 68. june 6-july 17, 1982, AMS Summer Research Conferences, University of New Hampshire, Durham. This issue, page 73. june 28-july 16, 1982, AMS-ASL Summer Research Institute on Recursion Theory, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. This issue, page 72. july 6-16, 1982, AMS-SIAM Summer Seminar on Applications of Group Theory in Physics and Mathematical Physics, University of Chicago. This issue, page 72. August 21-22, 1982, AMS Short Course: Statistical Data Analysis, Toronto, Canada. Subscribers' changes of address should be reported well in advance to avoid disruption of service: address labels are prepared four to six weeks in advance of the date of mailing. Requests for a change of address should always include the member or subscriber code and preferably a copy of the entire mailing label. Members are reminded that U. S. Postal Service change-of­ address forms are not adequate for this purpose, since they make no provision for several important items of information which are essential for the AMS records. Suitable forms are published from time to time in the Notices (e.g. June 1980, page 378). Send change of address notices to the Society at Post Office Box 6248, Providence, Rl 02940. [Notices is published eight times a year (January, February, April, June, August, October, November, December) by the American Mathematical Society at 201 Charles Street, Providence, Rl 02904. Second class postage paid at Providence, Rl and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change notices to Membership and Sales Department, American Mathematical Society, Post Office Box 6248, Providence, Rl 02940.] Publication here of the Society's street address, and the other information in brackets above, is a technical requirement of the U. S. Postal Service. The street address should never be used by correspondents, unless they plan to deliver their messages by hand. Members are strongly urged to notify the Society themselves of address changes (in the manner described above), since (as explained above) reliance on the postal service change-of-address forms is liable to cause delays in processing such requests in the AMS office. Notices of the American Mathematical Society Volume 29, Number 1, january 1982 EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Ralph P. Boas, Ed Dubinsky Richard j. Griego, Susan Montgomery Mary Ellen Rudin, Bertram Walsh Everett Pitcher (Chairman) MANAGING EDITOR Lincoln K. Durst ASSOCIATE EDITORS Hans Samelson, Queries 2 Research Institutes and Ronald L. Graham, Special Articles Alternative Modes of Support SUBSCRIPTION ORDERS for Mathematics Subscription for Vol. 29 (1982): $36 list, $18 member. The subscription -NSF Review and Evaluation price for members is included in the annual dues. 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It is essential to include the member code which appears on the AMS-SIAM Summer Seminar, 72 address label with all correspondence AMS Summer Research Conferences, 73 regarding subscriptions. 74 SPECIAL MEETINGS INFORMATION ABOUT ADVERTISING 78 MISCELLANEOUS in the Notices may be obtained from Virginia Biber at 401-292·9500. Personal Items, 78; Deaths, 78; Visiting Mathematicians (Supplement), CORRESPONDENCE, including changes 78 of address should be sent to American 80 AMS PUBLICATIONS Mathematical Society, P.O. Box 6248, Providence, Rl 02940. Short Course Lecture Notes Series Second class postage paid at 83 AMS REPORTS & COMMUNICATIONS Providence, Rl, and additional mailing Recent Appointments, 83; Reports of offices. Copyright© 1981 by the Past Meetings: Pittsburgh Meeting, 84 American Mathematical Society. Printed in the United States of America. 87 ADVERTISEMENTS Mathematical Sciences Research Institutes and other modes of support for the mathematical seienees NSF Review and Evaluation Procedures Introduction. Over the past few years as the review this article is merely the vehicle for conveying these and evaluation process for the proposed mathematical reports into print. The three panel reports follow. sciences research institute and other alternative modes They have been edited to remove references to any slowly unfolded, we at the National Science Foundation specific proposals, formal or informal, which did not repeatedly said that we would go public as soon as lead to positive recommendations and a detailed set we could and to the maximum extent possible. We of financial priority recommendations in a budgetary hope that this article will serve that end. Our context which, because of the passage of time, is now motivation is the belief that it is in the best interests no longer relevant. of research in the mathematieal sciences for there In order to make this article have manageable length, to be extensive exchange of information between I shall duplicate as little as possible anything that has mathematieal scientists and the staff of the Foundation. appeared earlier and received general distribution, such The scheme of the review and evaluation of proposals as articles in the AMS Notices, Dr. Krumhansl's "Dear for establishing mathematieal sciences research in­ Colleague" letter of February 6, 1979, and so forth. stitutes and other alternative modes of support was Brief ffistory. In pursuing its goal of maintaining designed during the spring of 1979 and is shown the continuing health and vitality of the Nation's schematieally below. The actual procedure followed research efforts in the mathematical sciences, the the lines of this scheme quite closely. This scheme is Mathematieal Sciences Section staff has always tried to introduced here in order to highlight the existence of carry on a continuing dialogue with members of the three advisory panels so that I may emphasize for the community which it serves. That dialogue contains first time (I shall do so repeatedly in the following) the many references, some more definite and shaped than importance of the reports of these panels. In essence others, to establishing a mathematical sciences research EVALUATION PLANS FOR ALTERNATIVE MODES MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE OTHER ALTERNATIVE MODES Mail Review COHERENT MODES 2 institute in one form or another. These were part of support. Consequently the project solicitation, which an ongoing discussion of appropriate mechanisms to was distributed later in 1978, stated that proposals support the mathematical sciences. for an institute would be compared not only with After discussions within the Section, with the each other but also with proposals for other options. Section's advisory panel, and with other individual Attention was further focused on this call for alternative mathematical scientists and groups of matheamtical options through the even wider distribution in [the scientists, a recommendation endorsing the mechanism Notices] February 1979 of Dr.