Mathematics currently enjoys some encouraging circumstances. Demographic change is finally leading to improvements in the academic job market, new funding initiatives support our research, and---hard as it is to believe---mathematics has even captured the imagination of popular culture. (Witness the play Proof and movies A Beautiful Mind (coming soon), Good Will Hunting, and Pi.) We know this attention and support is warranted as mathematics continues to be vital to the technologies that drive economic progress.
This fortuitous situation is however fragile and our profession faces additional challenges. While the AMS has limited power to affect change, it does play an important role in leadership and outreach. We certainly need to preserve recent gains, effectively communicating the value and excitement of our research to the government and to the general public. Another serious challenge is the attraction and development of the next generation of mathematical scientists. This is complicated by the memory of the recent job market, the trend towards longer postdoctoral careers, and the changing nature of American society.
If elected as your representative to the AMS council, I will work vigorously to ensure that our society continues to run well, represents it membership, and imaginatively faces new challenges as they arise.