This is a summary for all Pi Mu Epsilon Chapters of the meeting of the National Council of Pi Mu Epsilon, Inc., August 6th, 2009 in Portland, Oregon.

This is a summary for all Pi Mu Epsilon Chapters of Pi Mu Epsilon’s conference August 5 through August 8, 2009 in Portland, Oregon.

• Student Activities.  There were 55 Pi Mu Epsilon student speakers at the national Pi Mu Epsilon conference held in conjunction with MathFest 2009.
• Speakers who requested transportation reimbursement also received $215 to help defray the costs of lodging, food, registration, etc.  Pi Mu Epsilon was able to give these students this subsistence because of a grant from the National Security Agency. 
• The J. Sutherland Frame Lecture, The Mathematics of Perfect Shuffles, was given to a standing-room-only audience by Persi Diaconis from Stanford University.
• At the Pi Mu Epsilon Banquet and Awards Ceremony:

• Pi Mu Epsilon presented the C. C. MacDuffee award to Robert S. Smith of Miami University.  This award for exceptional service to Pi Mu Epsilon on the national level is not given regularly, but only when the Council wishes to recognize someone especially deserving of the honor.  Robert is the 14th awardee since the award was established in 1964.
• 16 student speakers received $150 cash awards for the excellence of their presentations.  Seven of these cash prizes were subsidized by a grant from the American Mathematical Society, three by the American Statistical Association, one by the Council on Undergraduate Research, two  by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, one by the MAA’s Special Interest Group on issues of Environmental Mathematics, and one was given by the MAA’s Special Interest Group on Mathematical Biology.  These awards were presented immediately following the Pi Mu Epsilon Banquet with 162 in attendance including the Pi Mu Epsilon speakers and their faculty advisors.

• The list of winners and complete list of speakers and their titles appears in an appendix at the end of this report.
• The Student Reception welcoming Pi Mu Epsilon and MAA student speakers the evening before MathFest began was well-received.
• The fourth annual Pi Mu Epsilon Faculty Breakfast for 49 advisors who attended MathFest 2009 was again great success, and Pi Mu Epsilon will continue to host these breakfasts at MathFests.  Pi Mu Epsilon advisors who missed this breakfast will have an opportunity to meet national Pi Mu Epsilon Councillors at the Pi Mu Epsilon table in the Exhibit Hall at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Francisco this coming January.
• Council Business.  The national Councillors met Thursday morning August 6.  Also present at the meeting as visitors were former Presidents Richard Poss, J. Douglas Faires, and Robert Smith, Pi Mu Epsilon Journal Problems Section co-editor Harold Reiter, and Kappa Mu Epsilon President-Elect (and liaison to PME) Rhonda McKee.
• Lectureship Grants.  During the spring 2009 term, visits were made to four Chapters funded by our Pi Mu Epsilon National Lectureship Program for 2008-2009:  President-Elect Eve Torrence visited our Florida Iota Chapter at the University of Tampa, Councillor Kendra Killpatrick visited our Oregon Delta Chapter at Western Oregon University, President David Sutherland visited our Texas Pi Chapter at Southwestern University, and Web Master Paul Fishback visited our Michigan Delta Chapter at Hope College.  In addition to these visits funded by the national office, President David Sutherland visited our Oregon Beta Chapter at Oregon State University.
• Since its inception, the Pi Mu Epsilon National Lectureship Program was funded by anonymous donations from former Secretary-Treasurer Dick Good.  Upon his death, Dr. Good made a bequest to Pi Mu Epsilon for an endowment to permanently fund these lectureships.  The Council voted to rename this program the Richard A. Good Pi Mu Epsilon Lectureship and Chapter Enhancement Program.  That will be its official title, but we may occasionally slip into calling that program the Good Lectures.
• The Council approved funding in our 2009-2010 Richard A. Good Pi Mu Epsilon Lectureship and Chapter Enhancement Program for six of the Chapters that applied:
  • Our Alabama Zeta Chapter at Alabama State University.
  • Our Kentucky Eta Chapter at Centre College.
  • Our Louisiana Eta Chapter at Nicholls State University.
  • Our Maryland Epsilon Chapter at Loyola College.
  • Our Minnesota Iota Chapter at Augsburg College.
  • Our North Dakota Alpha Chapter at North Dakota State University.
• Pi Mu Epsilon has just a finite amount of money to fund these visits by Councillors.  Those Chapters that applied but were not funded this year, and any other Chapters, can request a visit by a Councillor provided that they pay the Councillor’s expenses.  Our Councillors welcome such invitations, and enjoy meeting students and faculty at our Chapters.
• New Chapters.  In business conducted by email since its January meeting, Council voted unanimously to establish the following new Chapters:
1. At Willamette University our Oregon Zeta Chapter is our 330th.  This Chapter had been voted in earlier, but was officially installed by President David Sutherland during this spring term.
2. At University of San Francisco our California Rho Chapter is our 332nd.  This Chapter was installed by Councillor Kendra Killpatrick.
3. At College of St. Elizabeth  our New Jersey Mu Chapter is our 333rd. This Chapter was installed by Past President Joan Weiss.
4. At Ramapo College our New Jersey Nu Chapter is our 334th. This Chapter was installed by Past President Joan Weiss.
5. At Augsburg College our Minnesota Iota Chapter is our 335th.  This Chapter was installed by Councillor and Webmaster Paul Fishback.
6. At University of Findlay our Ohio Tau Chapter is our 336th. This Chapter was installed by Secretary-Treasurer Leo Schneider
7. At Sacred Heart University our Connecticut Zeta Chapter is our 337th.  This Chapter was installed by Past President Joan Weiss.
8. The Council unanimously approved the petition to charter a Pi Mu Epsilon Chapter at the University of Vermont.  This Chapter will be installed by Past President Joan Weiss during the fall 2009 term.
• Reactivated Chapters.  Three formerly Inactive Chapters, Alabama Zeta, Louisiana Eta, and North Dakota Alpha, were given permission to again begin inducting members in the spring 2009 term, and they will schedule formal reactivations ceremonies with a national Pi Mu Epsilon Councillor present during the 2009-2010 academic year.
• Finances (See appendices for details.) 
1. The financial report for the July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 fiscal year showed that Pi Mu Epsilon is in good shape and was accepted unanimously by the Council.  Most notable were a gift to endow a subscription to the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal in perpetuity for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a bequest from a trust to provide an endowment to permanently fund the Richard Andree Awards for top-quality student-written articles in the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal and Pi Mu Epsilon’s Lectureship Program.
2. The budget for the July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 fiscal year was approved.

• On Line Newsletter.  Chapters can look forward to a new Pi Mu Epsilon on-line newsletter to begin appearing on our web site this fall.
• Pi Mu Epsilon Anniversaries.  2009 marks the 60th anniversary of the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal, 2011 marks the 60th anniversary of Pi Mu Epsilon student talks at the summer meetings of the Mathematical Association of America, and 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of Pi Mu Epsilon at the University of Syracuse.  To begin advertising this 100th anniversary, Pi Mu Epsilon will distribute buttons at national meetings beginning with the San Francisco Joint Mathematics Meetings in January 2010.
• Next National Pi Mu Epsilon Conference.  The 2010 conference will be held in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  It will open with a Student Reception Wednesday afternoon August 4, and conclude with the Frame Lecture Friday evening August 6.  There will be dormitory housing available to students at Duquesne University.   Pi Mu Epsilon Speaker and Delegate applications will be available at www.pme-math.org beginning March 1, 2010.
• Pi Mu Epsilon Journal. 
  • The Andree Award for the best student-written article in the 2008 issues of the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal went to
1.  Joseph David Gastenveld from our Kentucky Zeta Chapter at Northern Kentucky University for his article Extensions that Yield Quasi p-Groups that was published in the Spring 2008 issue.
2.  Sharon J. Sternadel from our Oregon Beta Chapter at Oregon State University for her article Circles in a One-Way Street Taxicab Model that was published in the Spring 2008 issue.
3.  Melissa Wasson from Hartwick College for her article Scaling Ratios and Self-Contact in Planar Asymmetric Trees that was published in the Spring 2008 issue.
• The Editor of the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal reported an increase in papers submitted for publication.  There is still a desire to increase the number of student-written articles.
• The Problems Section of the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal continues to be popular.  The problems that appear in the spring and fall issues of the Journal are posted on the Pi Mu Epsilon web page, http://www.pme-math.org/ on March 1 and October 1, usually 8 weeks ahead of the time the Journal is mailed to our members.  October 1, 2009 is the deadline for solutions submitted to the problems that were posted on March 1, 2009, and the solutions to those problems will be printed in the fall 2009 issue of the Journal.  Similarly, March 1, 2010 will the deadline for solutions submitted to the problems that will be posted on October 1, 2009, and the solutions to those problems will be printed in the spring 2010 issue of the Journal.
• A searchable index for the titles and authors of all articles that have appeared in the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal is on our web site.  Articles that have won the Richard V. Andree Award are given special recognition in the index. 
• President-Elect Eve Torrence represented Pi Mu Epsilon at the gala celebration in Washington, DC honoring the 12 winners of the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad.
• Chapters are asked to verify that their listing is up to date and correct in our listing of Chapters at http://www.pme-math.org/chapters/statelists.html
• Chapters should file their annual Chapter Report at http://www.pme-math.org/chapters/chaptersubmit.html

The complete and official minutes of this meeting will be available by request from the Pi Mu Epsilon Secretary-Treasurer after they are approved at the January 2010 meeting of the Pi Mu Epsilon Council in San Francisco.

Leo J. Schneider
Secretary-Treasurer, Pi Mu Epsilon, Inc.

Appendices
 

Pi Mu Epsilon Budget for July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009

Pi Mu Epsilon Budget for July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010

Pi Mu Epsilon Student Speakers at MathFest 2009

 Prizes for outstanding Pi Mu Epsilon student talks, presented to the students at the Pi Mu Epsilon Banquet and Award Ceremony Friday evening, were:

• Awards funded by the American Mathematical Society and the American Statistical Association for excellence in student exposition and research (in alphabetical order) to:
• Matt Alexander from the Ohio Xi Chapter at Youngstown State University for Application of the Riemann Zeta Function.   Matt’s advisor for this research was Jacek Fabrykowski.
• Niel Biegalle from the Michigan Iota Chapter at Grand Valley State University for The Extremality of Bernstein Polynomials. Neil’s advisor for this research was Matt Boelkins.
• Adam  Boseman from the North Carolina Epsilon Chapter at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for Zeros of Riemann's Zeta Function.  Adam’s advisor for this research was Sebastion Pauli.
• Lisa Curll from the Ohio Iota Chapter at Youngstown State University for Bacterial Resistance: When Selenite is your Kryptonite.  Lisa’s advisor for this research was George Yates.
• Thomas Eliot from the Oregon Zeta Chapter at Willamette University for Negative Voting. Thomas’s advisor for this research was Josh Laison.
• Harold L. Gomes from the New York Alpha Alpha Chapter at the City University of New York – Queens college for The Brain and Mathematical Modeling.  Harold’s advisors for this research were Joshua Brumberg and Ted Carnevale.
• Masaki Ikeda from the Oregon Zeta Chapter at Western Oregon University for Random Juggling.  Masaki’s advisor for this research was Mike Ward.
• Jennifer Jordan from the Maryland Theta Chapter at Goucher College for Follow the Food Feeding Function.  Jennifer’s advisor for this research was Gretchen Koch.
• Jason Lutz from the Minnesota Delta Chapter at St. John’s University for An Analog for a Basis in Finite Groups.  Jason’ advisor for this research was Bret Benesh.
• Sean Watson from the Texas Pi Chapter at Southwestern University for Series in Banach spaces.  Sean’s advisor for this research was Fumiko Futamura.
• Moriah Wright from the Ohio Xi Chapter at Youngstown State University for Mathematically Modeling Cardiac Myocytes.   Moriah’s advisor for this research was Jozsi Jalics.
• Council on Undergraduate Research award for outstanding student research and exposition to:
•  Tarah Jensen from the Michigan Iota Chapter at Grand Valley State University for Extreme Curvature.  Tarah’s advisor for this research was Stephanie Edwards.
• Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics awards for outstanding student exposition and research in applied mathematics to:
• Josh Koslosky from the Pennsylvania Upsilon Chapter at Duquesne University for Feature-Based Image Denoising.  Josh’s advisor for this research was Stacey Levine.
• Henry Schreiner from the Texas Zeta Chapter at Angelo State University for Edge Effects in Wavelet Image Processing.  Henry’s advisor for this research was Roger Zarnowski.
• MAA Special Interest Group -- Environmental Mathematics award for outstanding exposition and research  in  environmental mathematics to:
• Michael O'Connor from the Colorado Gamma Chapter at the United States Air Force Academy for Solar Flux and Atmospheric Density. Michael’s advisor for this research was Scott Dahlke.
• MAA Special Interest Group – Mathematical Biology: The Janet L. Anderson Award for outstanding exposition and research  in Mathematical or Computational Biology to:
• Yasmeen Hussain from the Utah Alpha Chapter at the University of Utah for The Fifth Factor.  Yasmeen’s advisor for this research was Aaron Fogelson.

This is the complete list of Pi Mu Epsilon Student Speakers:

Also in attendance for the entire meeting were the following official Delegates of their Chapters: Elyse Marie Azorr, Michael Donatz, Matthew James Schmidgall, Kristal Temple, and Laura Waight from our Oregon Delta Chapter, Rongjun Chen from our North Carolina Theta Chapter, and Michelle Krause from our Florida Epsilon Chapter.