1999
Canadian Mathematical Society
Annual Report
to Members

A Word From the President

In general, much of what happened within the CMS in 1999 could be described as a continued evolution in which existing trends were reinforced and planning was also undertaken for future developments. The future of the CMS was certainly a major topic in the CMS during 1999 and that will continue in 2000. A comprehensive review was set into motion two years ago with Board approval of a Strategic Planning document. By June of this year, eight separate task forces or associated committees will have submitted reports on various aspects of CMS operations. Beginning in the second half of this year, the Executive will consider all these reports and begin to develop an overall strategy for implementing the various recommendations. A final summary report on planning is due in the year 2001.

One report is already being implemented. A major review of Electronic Services and of the CMS website Camel took place during 1999. As a consequence of that review, the Electronic Services Committee was downsized and this more compact group has been mandated to prepare detailed policy statements, in the framework of the review report, regarding the functions and priorities of Camel and its administrative structure.

One exciting innovation of the past year has been the implementation of the Endowment Grants Program. During 1999 the first Endowment Grants Committee was formed and its first funding decisions were made. It is anticipated that when the Endowment Grants Program is fully operational the Endowment Fund will be providing at least $60,000 in funding per year to help support a variety of mathematics projects across Canada.

A striking trend within the CMS is the continued expansion of our support of student activity at all levels. At the high school level, the already impressive CMS enrichment program is being augmented by a nation wide Math Camp Program partially sponsored by Imperial Oil, as well as by a new publication series ATOM. At the post-secondary level, a number of new links have been created or are on their way to being created. The CMS implemented a policy of free membership for all mathematics graduate students. A new focus on industrial training is emerging. The first CMS Job Fair occurred at the Winter Meeting in Montreal and another one will be taking place in Toronto in June. A new CMS Student Committee was formed in 1999. This committee is intended, in part, to serve as a liaison group between students and the CMS. Notably, it will support a national student newsletter and a student website.

Our two semi-annual meetings held during 1999 at St John's and Montreal were very successful with large attendance and a very broad range of sessions. The meetings of the past few years confirm the effectiveness of our evolving meeting format in terms of encouraging participation. The involvement of the three Mathematical Institutes whereby each will participate in a semi-annual meeting by organizing a session has been confirmed and will take effect at this June's meeting. We continue to pursue our partnership with the Mathematical Institutes in other ways. The CMS Job Fairs, mentioned above, are being organized in conjunction with the Institutes and MITACS.

"Math 2000" will be taking place during June 10-13 of this year at McMaster University. This meeting is part of the Canadian celebration of "World Mathematical Year 2000" (WMY 2000). It is a large joint meeting involving the participation of six different Canadian mathematical organizations including the CMS. It has a very ambitious and diversified scientific program involving 20 special sessions and 15 plenary speakers including a number of Fields Medal winners. Math 2000 will culminate a week of intense mathematical activity. It is preceded by two other major events being held in Toronto: the first MITACS General Meeting (June 6-7) which will include a CMS Job Fair and the Symposium on the Legacy of John Charles Fields organized by the Fields Institute.

The organizational structure of the CMS is continuing to evolve. We have already mentioned changes in Electronic Services and the creation of the Endowment Grants Committee and the Student Committee. With the appointment of Robert Quackenbush (Manitoba) as Managing Editor of CMS publications in June these duties have been removed from the Executive Director's duties allowing him more time for fund raising and promotional activities. It seems fair to say that it is still undecided how we will eventually structure the Executive Director's position. Notably will the CMS need to move to a full time Executive Director? Significant changes in a number of CMS standing committees also occurred. The Investment Advisory Group of the Finance Committee was dissolved after years of effective service. This was a logical consequence of the adaption last year of a "passive investment" policy regarding our, now extensive, segregated Investment Funds. (Endowment Fund and Mathematical Olympiads Fund). It represents a logical step in the evolution of a more articulated and coherent investment policy. In another rationalization, the Board agreed in June to abolish the Governmental Affairs Committee. The main responsibility of that committee, the Annual Survey, is also under review.

At the Board level, beginning this year, the Institutes and the Statistics Society of Canada (SSC) will have representatives on the CMS Board. The arrangement with SSC is actually for mutual representatives. The CMS/NRC agreement for NRC funding of Canadian membership in the International Mathematical Union has been renewed. The new agreement contains a proviso for travel funds for Canadian delegates to attend IMU General Assemblies.

The re-organized Fund Raising Committee continues its pursuit of corporate sponsors and of members. These are very important initiatives. Our current budget is committed and the ability of the CMS to sponsor a wider range of activities is contingent on our ability to access new funding. Likewise the renewal and expansion of membership is also a priority. This year witnessed the implementation of our new membership reciprocity agreement with the AMS, which we hope will be effective. Also we have a new policy of offering three years of complementary membership to new faculty in Canadian Mathematics departments.

As the already mentioned "Math 2000" attests, WMY 2000 has arrived. The CMS is playing an active role in its celebration. Besides its key organizational role with regards to "Math 2000", the CMS has also contributed $45,000 to partially fund eight different WMY 2000 projects across Canada. For information on WMY 2000 and the many projects taking place across Canada and the globe consult the website "wmy2000.math.jussieu.fr".

The McMaster meeting in June marks the official end of my two year term. I would like to thank everyone who has been so supportive, both of the CMS and of me personally, over the past two years. The CMS is a very successful professional organization and it has achieved its present position via the work of a large group of dedicated volunteers and staff. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to represent these people and to work with them. I extend my very best wishes to my successor, Jonathan Borwein. I am sure that he will experience the same high level of support from our membership.

Richard Kane (University of Western Ontario)

Executive Director's Report

In 1979, when I took over as the Society's Executive Director from Dr. John McNamee, it would have been very difficult to predict the role and scope of Society's activities some twenty years later. Also, I did not expect that, in July 1999, after I have finished twenty years as Executive Director and be commencing another term. Fortunately, the duties or the being Executive Director are made much more manageable because of the crucial support received from the officers, directors, committee members, editors, Executive Office staff, and others.

The Society offers a wide array of research and educational activities and it is beginning 2000 (the "next millennium" minus one year!) from a position of strength. The 1999 Annual Reports from the various standing committees amply demonstrate the many ways in which the Society supports the Canadian mathematical community.

The Society's semi-annual meetings (Memorial - June 1999 and Montreal - December 1999) were extremely well attended and the meeting directors and organizers are to be congratulated on putting together an extensive programme of excellent sessions and activities and obtaining a tremendous level of support from the host university, the various research institutes as well as other sponsors. In May, the 1999 Canadian Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (CUMC) took place just before the CMS Meeting and the first CMS Job Fair took place the day after the CMS Meeting in December. It is hoped that future CUMC conferences will take place just before or after the CMS summer meeting and that a CMS Job Fair will be held at either the winter or summer meeting. The on-going commitment from the three research institutes through the National Program Committee will help provide important financial support for each CMS semi-annual meeting, including support for graduate student travel.

As has been the case for several years, the Society's ability to fund the research and educational activities, in large part, is due to the revenue generated from our various publication activities, particularly the Canadian Journal of Mathematics (CJM) and the Canadian Mathematical Bulletin (CMB), and the support received from the many editors and host universities. I am pleased to welcome Dr. Robert Quackenbush (Manitoba) as the new Managing Editor for our publications. In July 1999, the duties of Managing Editor were removed from those of the Executive Director and transferred to Dr. Quackenbush who has been appointed as the Managing Editor to June 30, 2002.

Our publication activities continue to be of a high standard, both scientifically and with respect to production quality. In 1999, the respective issues of the CJM, the CMB, CRUX with MAYHEM and the CMS Notes were published very close to the projected shipping date and each issue was also available on-line for for subscribers approximately one week beforehand. The new CMS Book Series with Springer-Verlag is progressing well and the first books in this series should be available early in 2000. Although the current agreement with the American Mathematical Society to publish the CMS Conference Proceedings Series will be ending next year, discussions are underway to establish a new agreement for the publication of a different series, perhaps a CMS Lecture Notes Series. Three books in the ATOM (A Taste of Mathematics) Series of educational booklets have been published and several others are in various stages of preparation.

The Annual Reports of the Education Committee and the Mathematical Competitions Committee (formerly the Mathematical Olympiads Committee) indicate the broad range of educational activities supported by the Society. All of these enrichment activities are possible because of the crucial assistance received from members, teachers and students across Canada. This is certainly true for the one of our new programs - Regional and National Math Camps.

The Math Camps Program brings together, university departments, school teachers and young students (grades 9 through 11) and offers an excellent way to show that mathematics can be fun, challenging and rewarding. Three such camps took place in 1999 (at the University of Calgary, the University of Western Ontario and the University of Waterloo). As part of World Math Year 2000, and with increased support from the Imperial Oil Charitable Foundation, the Math Camps Program is being expanded significantly in 2000. Although significant support has been received more is needed if the program is to reach its potential.

Participation in the 1999 Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge was almost 5000, up from nearly 3,800 in 1998. Several university mathematics departments are now using the results from the Open as a major factor in determining entrance scholarships. If this practice expands, it likely the number of students participating will increase significantly in future years.

From the large number of students who each year participate in the Open and the Society's other activities, to the six students who are chosen to represent Canada at the International Mathematical Olympiad, it is clear there is a lot of good young mathematics talent in Canada.

The Final Reports of the Task Force on Finances and Fundraising, the Task Force on Support of the Mathematics Community and the Ad-hoc Committee on Electronic Services and Camel were received at the end of 1999. These reports, together with those of earlier Task Forces have already resulted in a number of changes and recommendations adopted to improve in various aspects of the Society's operations. The reports received to-date and the reports of the remaining Task Forces due in 2000, will help to provide the vital framework for the future direction of the CMS. I wish to thank all the members of past and current Task Forces for their many contributions to this important planning exercise.

The past 20 years have been exhilarating and rewarding. With continued support from the membership as well good support from the public and private sectors, the future looks very promising.

Graham P. Wright (University of Ottawa)

Treasurer's Report

Generally speaking, the financial year 1999 can be considered to be satisfactory. Income kept up reasonably well, and most expense items came in on or below budget

The Operations Fund, consisting of the four general divisions: General, Education, Research, and Publishing, showed an excess of revenue over expenses of about $51,000. With the exception of Publishing, all divisions showed deficits, as expected. Most of the deficit in the Education and Research divisions comes about because their estimated fair share of office costs has been charged to the their account, - i.e., transferred from General, where it formerly resided.

The largest revenue, by far, comes from sales of subscriptions to the Journal and Bulletin, but substantial amounts also come from membership fees, donations, meeting registrations, and foreign (i.e. U.S.) exchange. We continue to seek ways in which Camel can generate revenue. We appreciate the sensitivity of staff and committee chairs in keeping within their budgets, indeed often coming in under budget. Without this, we might well have run a deficit in 1999.

In some respects, the investment income was a disappointment. In 1999, we began our new policy of entrusting the two investment accounts (Endowment Fund and Olympiads Fund) to a passive money-manager (TD Quantitative Capital). A combination of transfer costs and volatile markets resulted in a yield which did not come up to expectations. We remain convinced, however, that the move to a money-manager is correct, and we have every reason to expect better yields on our investments in the future.

For the first time, there was an expenditure from the Endowment fund for Endowment Grants. We expect that future years will show considerably larger outlays, as the Endowment Grants Program evolves.

Arthur Sherk (University of Toronto)

Note: The information given in the following two pages is extracted from the 1999 Treasurer's Report. A copy of the complete report is available from the Executive Office for review.

Budget 2000 - Operations Fund Summary

Budget 2000 - General and Education Divisions

Budget 2000 - Research and Publications Divisions

Morris Orzech (Queen's) Chair