Author Archives: Karen Saxe

About Karen Saxe

Karen Saxe is Director of the AMS Office of Government Relations which works to connect the mathematics community with Washington decision-makers who affect mathematics research and education. Over many years she has contributed much time to the AMS, MAA, and AWM, including service as vice president of the MAA and in policy and advocacy work with all three. She was the 2013-2014 AMS Congressional Fellow, working for Senator Al Franken on education issues, with focus on higher education and STEM education. In Minnesota she has served on the Citizens Redistricting Commission following the 2010 census and serves on the Common Cause Minnesota Redistricting Leadership Circle. She has three children and, when not at work especially enjoys being with them and reading, hiking and sharing good food and wine and beer with family and friends.

AMS Primer on Open Access

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Karen Saxe

  Over the past several years, traditional models of journal publications have been scrutinized, and new models of “open access” publishing have been launched. The AMS has made changes to its family of journals, and has been active in policy … Continue reading →

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What is Congress up to, vis-à-vis the NSF? Money and Demography

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Karen Saxe

  During the week of May 6, I attended two hearings in the House of Representatives, both of which had to do with the NSF. Congressional hearings are (usually) open to the public. Some are easy to get in to, … Continue reading →

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President Trump issues his FY 2020 budget, what does it look like for the mathematical sciences, and what happens next?

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Karen Saxe

  On March 11 President Trump released his proposal, titled “A Budget for a Better America,” outlining how the government should make investments for the FY2020. As in his first two, his third annual budget includes massive cuts for science. … Continue reading →

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We are not doing so well

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Karen Saxe

Editor’s note: This was updated on April 26. The original had a few errors. Thank you to Tom Barr at the AMS for help getting the correct numbers. Ok, so that title doesn’t tell you much. Two reports came out … Continue reading →

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Meet the AMS Committee on Science Policy

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Karen Saxe

The AMS has five “policy” committees, which were established in 1993 to correspond to the five major areas in which the mission of the AMS is concentrated: Education, Meetings and Conferences, the Profession, Publications, and Science Policy. Each policy committee … Continue reading →

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Why care about the American Association for the Advancement of Science as an early-career mathematician?

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Karen Saxe

Editor’s note: Guest columnist Luis Sordo Vieira is a PhD mathematician and Postdoctoral Associate at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, a SIAM Science Policy Fellow, and a member of AMS, SIAM, SMB, AACR, and AAAS. I had the pleasure of … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Communicating Mathematics, Graduate students | Tagged | 3 Comments

Mathematical Sciences and the NSF Big Ideas

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Karen Saxe

Editor’s note: Guest columnist Juan Meza is the Division Director of the NSF’s Division of Mathematical Sciences. Immediately before joining the NSF, he served as Dean of the School of Natural Sciences at the University of California, Merced. In 2016, the National … Continue reading →

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Which Members of Congress have a say over the NSF?

Posted on February 16, 2019 by Karen Saxe

Another shutdown has been avoided. Science did well in the final deal, and this includes \$8.1 billion for the NSF for the fiscal year 2019 (FY2019); this is the first time the NSF has received appropriations over \$8 billion and … Continue reading →

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Call To Action: The Shutdown Hurt Science; Ask Congress To Avoid Another

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Karen Saxe

Take action today and tell your elected officials–especially if they are members of the Conference Committee–to demonstrate resolve and forge a final package before February 15. You can use this editable email (written by Research!America) to contact your Congressional delegation–make your voice heard! … Continue reading →

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NSF’s “We are Mathematics” Video Competition deadline extended

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Karen Saxe

The deadline for entries to the NSF “We Are Mathematics” Video Competition has been extended to February 28, 2019. This extension is due to the partial government shutdown. The NSF was closed but is now up and running again, and … Continue reading →

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