The last day of the JMM is always a weird one. There are a lot less talks, a lot less people, and exhibits close at noon. One good thing: the lines at the Starbucks and food court were much shorter. As abrupt as the arrival of 7,000+ mathematicians feels, the departure is this very slow, subtle thing. If you stick around long enough, you will notice this. Even the morning invited addresses were a lot emptier than previous ones. Read more »

“Who wants to be a mathematician?” was the question I started my day with. As it seems, about ten high school boys do, and very well should. In case you’re confused, Friday at 9:30am was the math contest which has become a fixture of the meetings. The students selected to play represent ten regions of the country and qualify based on their scores on a test sent to their schools. There are two semifinal rounds with five contestants each, and the winner of each game would then Read more »

The second day of the JMM proved to be much less eventful than the first, but there was still much to do. The title reflects how I managed to hit the big three of new faculty: I went to research talks in my area of interest, I went to a teaching talk, and I had a meeting for a publication I’m an editor for.

Read more »

The art exhibit on opening day

One of my favorite things during the Joint Math Meetings is the art exhibit. Apparently, others agree, and the exhibit has gotten much larger, with many submissions and beautiful pieces on display. In this post, I will share some of my favorite pieces. I was particularly excited by the 3D printer sculptures, as you can see.

Read more »

The opening of the exhibits

I am not entirely sure how Paul Revere would have felt with this invasion of mathematicians (last I heard, there were 6,700 of us!), but we are all thrilled to be meeting in beautiful, chilly Boston. For me, since I live in Portland, Maine, it was a most convenient location for a JMM. Although I must admit I missed playing “spot the mathematician” in the airport. Read more »