IMU Bulletin no. 43, October

    REPORT OF THE 13th GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF IMU
    Dresden, Germany, August 15-16, 1998




    1. Opening
      The President opened the Assembly at 10 a.m. on August 15, 1998


    2. Address by the President
      The President welcomed the participants and briefly presented what the Executive Committee had been doing in the last 4 years, especially moves to increase the representation of applied mathematics and other mathematical sciences at the International Congresses of Mathematicians, an initiative to bring together computer scientists to consider forming an International Union of Computer Science and the formation of a committee on electronic publishing. He also emphasized that every effort had been made to send the delegates all necessary information beforehand. This information is collected in Bulletin No. 42 Special Number for the General Assembly. The Agenda was accepted.


    3. Committees
      The following committees were appointed:

      Resolutions Committee
      Friedrich Hirzebruch (Germany) Chairperson
      Peter Fillmore (Canada)
      Christer Kiselman (Sweden)
      Sebastiá Xambó-Descamps (Spain)
      Ushadevi N. Bhosle (India)
      Vladimir Arnold, ex-officio, Vice-President

      Committee for Finance and Dues
      Ronald Graham (United States of America), Chairperson
      Roberto Markarian (Uruguay)
      Kun Soo Chang (Korea)
      Andrei A. Gonchar (Russia)
      Batmanathan D. Reddy (South Africa)
      Jacob Palis, ex-officio, Secretary

      Nominating Committee
      David Mumford, ex-officio, Chairperson
      Isabel Dotti (Argentina)
      Alberto Conte (Italy)
      Zbigniew J. Ciesielski (Poland)
      Da-Qian Li (Chinese Math. Society)
      John Ball (United Kingdom)
      Olli Lehto (Finland)
      Kazuo Okamoto (Japan)
      Robert MacPherson (United States of America)
      Ludwig Faddeev, ex-officio, Past President
      Jurgen Moser, ex-officio, Past President

      Besides the above, there were the Credentials and Tellers Committees, chaired by Ragni Piene (Norway) and Vera Sós (Hungary), respectivelly.


    4. Members
        4.1. New Members:
        Ukraine - has been admitted to the Union in Group II as of January 1, 1999

        4.2. Dues arrears:
        The Secretary raised the issue that some countries are not up to date in the payments of dues: Bulgaria, Cuba, Georgia, Iran, North Korea, Nigeria and Yugoslavia.

      • For Bulgaria, Cuba, Georgia and Iran the Assembly decided to ask the Executive Committee to send messages to call their attention to the necessity of payment of their previous dues.
      • As for Yugoslavia, since they paid the dues for the last four consecutive years (1995-1998), the Assembly decided to waive their previous dues.
      • North Korea and Nigeria, have not paid any dues since 1990. Moreover, neither North Korea or Nigeria have answered the Union messages concerning their dues arrears. The General Assembly decided to cease/suspend their membership, if they do not answer to the EC renewed efforts after a year.


    5. Activities of the Union - Scientific Reports

      6. The reports in the Bulletin covered the IMU activities in the period since the last General Assembly, especially symposia and conferences, as well as the activities of its Commissions ICMI, CDE and ICHM, and also the World Directory. They were approved.

      The 11th edition of the World Directory of Mathematicians compiled and printed by the American Mathematical Society under the supervision of Professor James Arthur, will be available at the ICM in Berlin.

    6. Finance and dues:

        7. 6.1. Financial reports for the years 1994-1997

        The activities of the Union for the years 1994-1997, as well as the complete financial reports, including audited ones, had been reviewed in the Bulletin No. 42, Special Number, 1998.

        6.2. The financial report for the years 1994-1997 were approved by the General Assembly.

        6.3. Budget for the years 1999-2002 - The budget for the years 1999-2002 was accepted by the General Assembly - Appendix 3

    7. Creation of a Committee on Electronic Information and Communication

      8. The GA approved an Enabling Resolution to form an IMU Committee on Electronic Information and Communication (CEIC), based on the following proposal of the EC:

      1. In the last decade, the internet has been transforming our communication and commerce. In the world of science, the internet is radically changing the modes of information transfer at all levels. Communication on hand-written and printed paper, distribution via postal mail and libraries is a system which has been stable for many centuries. We cannot foresee clearly the new system which is evolving except that it will involve electronic media and it will radically alter the economics of communication. This transformation will certainly be global and will affect mathematical research on all continents.


      2. We strongly believe that the IMU can play several important roles during this transition. Among these are:

        (i) it can provide a forum where all parties, i. e., all countries and all interest groups (individual researchers, professional societies, publishers, and libraries) can discuss the issues and it can publish proceedings to increase general understanding of all the issues involved,

        (ii) it can recommend and promote international standards on electronic communication among mathematicians, when needed,

        (iii) it can act as a liaison between regional, national and local groups, coordinating their initiatives and discussions.


      3. We therefore propose that the GA establish a

        Committee on Electronic Information and Communication (CEIC)

        to accomplish its objectives whose terms of reference and initial additional membership will be decided by the ad hoc committee consisting of John Ewing, Martin Groetschel, Peter Michor, David Mumford and Jacob Palis and sent by mail ballot to all adhering organizations for approval.


        4. The Terms of Reference for the Committee were discussed at the General Assembly and an ad hoc Committee formed by John Ewing, Marting Groetschel, Peter Michor, David Mumford and Jacob Palis, was established to complete such Terms and to suggest its initial membership. These Terms of Reference and initial membership will be sent to the Adhering Organizations for approval.

    8. Elections
      The Nominating Committee met in the afternoon of August 15 from 16:00 to 17:30. It adopted the slates proposed by the Executive Committee. From the floor, three candidates for members at large of the Executive Committee of IMU were presented (M.Groetschel, D. Robinson and V. Milman), as well as a candidate for member at large of CDE (F. Mohamed) and a candidate for member at large of ICMI (C.Julie). According to the procedures for elections, as approved by all Adhering Organizations beforehand and explained by Prof. David Mumford to the Assembly, their names appear in the ballots together with the EC and Nominating Committee slates.

      -The Committees elected for the years 1999-2002, consist of:

      9. IMU Executive Committee

      President: Professor Jacob Palis (Brazil)
      Vice-Presidents: Professor S. Donaldson (United Kingdom)
        Professor S. Mori (Japan)
      Secretary: Professor P. Griffiths (USA)
      Members: Professor V. Arnold (Russia)
        Professor J. M. Bismut (France)
        Professor B. Engquist (Sweden)
        Professor M. Groetschel (Germany)
        Professor M.S. Raghunathan (India)
      ex-officio: Professor D. Mumford (Past President)

      Commission on Development And Exchange - CDE

      Chairman: Professor Rolando Rebolledo (Chile)
      Secretary: Professor Herb Clemens (USA)
      Members: Professor A.A. Ashour (Egypt)
        Professor K. C. Chang (China)
        Professor P. Cordaro (Brazil)
        Professor J.-P.Gossez (Belgium)
        Professor O. Nakoulima (France)
        Professor T. Sunada (Japan)
      ex-officio: Professor M.S.Narasimhan (Past Chairman)
        Professor Jacob Palis (President of IMU)
        Professor P. Griffiths (Secretary of IMU)

      International Commission on Mathematical Instruction - ICMI

      President: Professor Hyman Bass (USA)
      Vice-Presidents: Professor M. Artigue (France)
        Professor N.Aguilera (Argentina)
      Secretary: Professor B. Hodgson (Canada)
      Members: Professor G. Leder (Australia)
        Professor Y. Namikawa (Japan)
        Professor I. Scharygin (Russia)
        Professor J.P. Wang (China)
      ex-officio: Professor Miguel de Guzman (Past President)
        Professor Jacob Palis (President of IMU)
        Professor P. Griffiths (Secretary of IMU)

      International Commission on the History of Mathematics - ICHM


      Professors Jan P. Hogendijk (Netherlands) and Karen V.H. Parshall (USA) were elected as IMU Members to the Executive Committee of the Joint International Commission on the History of Mathematicians for the years 1999-2002.

      • Professor S. Mori was elected to represent IMU at ICSU in the years 1999-2002

    9. Site of ICM - 2002

      10. The President announced that the Site Committee for ICM 2002 recommended Beijing, China as the site for the next Congress. Oslo and Norway had presented another bid. The Assembly voted on this issue and approved Beijing as the site of ICM 2002. Prof. K.C. Chang, on behalf of the Chinese Mathematical Society, thanked the General Assembly and promised a good conference to the mathematical community. He reaffirmed that there should be no visa problems and announced the dates of the Congress as August 20-28, 2002.

    10. Change of Statutes

      11. The proposed change of statutes was accepted by the General Assembly. It is in Appendix 5

    11. Report of Committee on Finance and Dues

      12. Professor Ronald Graham (United States of America), Chairperson of Committee for Finance and Dues reported on the work of the Committee. His report is presented as Appendix 2.

      The Committee recommended the approval of the financial reports for the years 1994-1997 and the audited accounts. The General Assembly unanimously approved them.

      The budget for 1999-2002 had been prepared keeping the same dues as in 1995-1998.

      The Committee recommended the acceptance of the budget proposed.

      The budget was approved unanimously by the General Assembly. See Appendix 3.

    12. Adoption of resolutions

      13. The Resolution Committee presented proposals of resolutions for approval of the General Assembly.

      After discussion of these and some other proposals presented from the floor, the following ones were approved:


      Resolutions of the IMU General Assembly 1998


      Resolution 1


      The General Assembly resolves that the next meeting of the General Assembly will be held at a time and place conveniently linked to the International Congress of Mathematicians in Beijing, China, in 2002.

      Resolution 2


      Building on the resolutions adopted at the 1986 and 1990 General Assemblies, the IMU shall continue to endeavor to attract the participation of all mathematicians. Subfields of mathematics, women and mathematicians in smaller countries should not be overlooked in IMU activities.

      Resolution 3


      The General Assembly expresses its gratitude to those bodies who contributed to the Special Development Fund in the past four years, which allowed 100 young mathematicians from developing countries to attend the ICM-98. The General Assembly hopes that they will continue their efforts and urges other Adhering bodies and Committees for Mathematics to work towards ensuring more contributions to the Special Development Fund. The General Assembly recognizes the additional effort of the Executive Committee and the Organizing Committee of ICM 1998 to invite and finance 40 senior mathematicians from developing countries.

      Resolution 4


      The General Assembly expresses its gratitude to the Organizing Committee of ICM 98 chaired by Martin Groetschel and the local organizers chaired by Volker Nollau, for the hospitable reception and excellent arrangements at the Dresden meeting.

      Resolution 5


      The thirteenth General Assembly gives warm thanks to the Executive Committee and to the President of IMU for their work during the period 1995-1998.

      Resolution 6


      The General Assembly gives especial thanks to Jacob Palis for his excellent work as Secretary to the IMU over the last eight years assisted by Mrs. Suely dos Santos Lima. It also thanks the Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada (IMPA) for its generous support of the IMU secretariat over this period.

      Resolution 7


      The General Assembly expresses thanks to the Organizing Committee of ICM 1998 for its excellent innovations, including the use of electronic and information technology, the advance publication of volumes of the Proceedings, and the efforts to improve public perception of mathematics.

    13. Next meeting of the General Assembly

      14. The Chinese delegation invited the General Assembly to meet at a place linked to the 2002 International Congress of Mathematicians to be held in Beijing, China.

    14. The President thanked the Assembly for its work and declared the 13th General Assembly of IMU closed at 1:30 p.m.


      15. The report of the Credentials Committee is presented in Appendix 1 and the list delegates as Appendix 4