National Association of Mathematicians

The National Association of Mathematicians is a professional association for mathematicians in the US, especially African Americans and other minorities.^[1] It was founded in 1969.^[2]

National Association of Mathematicians

Abbreviation	NAM
Founded	1969
Type	501(c)(3)
Focus	promoting excellence in the mathematical sciences promoting the mathematical development of all underrepresented minorities.
Board of directors	Omayra Ortega, President Torina Lewis, Vice-President Aris Winger, Executive Secretary Cory Colbert, Treasurer Shea Burns, Secretary Zerotti Woods, Editor
Website	www.nam-math.org

Lectures

NAM hosts five lecture series that honor African American mathematicians.^[3]

Two of these take place at the annual Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society. The Cox-Talbot Lecture, named after Elbert Frank Cox and Walter Richard Talbot, is an hour-long lecture that takes place during the NAM Banquet. Invited speakers are mathematicians chosen for their achievement and service to the mathematical community. The Lecture was inaugurated in 1990, and past speakers include Nathan Alexander, Robert Q. Berry III, Talitha Washington, Roselyn E. Williams, Talithia Williams, Erica N. Walker, Garikai Campbell, and Tanya Moore (activist).^[4]

The Claytor-Woodard Lecture at the JMM was inaugurated in 1980 and is named after Dudley Weldon Woodard and William Waldron Schieffelin Claytor.^[5] Each year a speaker is chosen on the basis of their work to improve opportunities in mathematical research for underrepresented American minorities. Past speakers include Ryan Hynd, Monica Jackson, Chelsea Walton, Suzanne Weekes, and Henok Mawi.

The other three lecture series organised by NAM are:

• Albert Turner Bharucha-Reid Lecture at the Regional Faculty Conference on Research and Teaching Excellence
• MAA-NAM David Harold Blackwell Lecture at Mathematical Association of America (MAA) MathFest
• J. Ernest Wilkins Lecture at NAM's Undergraduate MATHFest.

History

At the 1969 Joint Mathematics Meetings in New Orleans, seventeen mathematicians met on Sunday January 26 to begin a new organization:^[6]

1. James Ashley Donaldson, faculty at University Illinois at Chicago
2. Samuel Horace Douglas, faculty at Grambling College
3. Henry Madison Eldridge, faculty at Fayetteville State College
4. Thyrsa Anne Frazier-Svager, faculty at Central State University
5. Richard Griego, faculty at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque
6. Johnny Lee Houston, faculty at Stillman College and graduate student at Purdue University
7. Curtis Jefferson, faculty at Cuyahoga Community College
8. Vivienne Malone-Mayes, faculty at Baylor University
9. Theodore Portis, faculty at Alabama State University
10. Charles R. Smith, faculty at Paine College
11. Robert S. Smith, graduate student at Pennsylvania State University
12. Beauregard Stubblefield, faculty at Texas Southern University
13. Henry Thaggert, faculty at Jarvis Christian College
14. Walter Richard Talbot, faculty at Morgan State College
15. Argelia Valez-Rodriquez, faculty at Bishop College
16. Harriet Rose Junior Walton, faculty at & Morehouse College
17. Scott W. Williams, graduate student at Lehigh University