GU Professor Dr. Jason Smith Elected Vice Chair of Mathematical Association of America Iowa Section

Graceland University Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Dr. Jason Smith, has been elected as Vice Chair of the Iowa Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) as of October 2014. This is a three-year appointment and an honor for Jason, and will offer a good opportunity for Graceland and its students as well.

Currently, Jason is serving as Vice Chair Elect, which includes the responsibility of hosting the MAA annual meeting on the Graceland Lamoni campus. The meeting will be held in October 2015, when Jason will take over as Vice Chair, and will be the first time Graceland has hosted the event since 1996. It is expected that there will an estimated 50 to 100 area mathematicians in attendance, and the gathering will offer time for the attendees to collaborate, present current work and talk about teaching practices that work well in the classroom.

This will be a big year for hosting the annual meeting, as it is the 100^th anniversary of the MAA. In addition to the meeting, attendees can expect a reception and a birthday cake to celebrate.

“Usually at these conferences, the undergrad students help out with sessions and run the math game night on the Friday before the meeting. It will be good for the math majors to be exposed to the conference,” Jason expressed.

In addition, the Iowa Section of Project NExT, a program sponsored by the MAA — with the goal of improving the quality of undergraduate learning by exposing new college faculty to current teaching pedagogies — will be organizing a workshop immediately preceding the MAA annual meeting at GU in October 2015.

Jason will become the Chair of the Iowa section of the MAA at the October 2016 annual meeting, at which point he will be responsible for running the MAA business meetings and will attend at least one or two of the national MAA meetings throughout his term.

Graceland is proud to host such an event and to congratulate Smith on his new role.