Sustaining the Momentum?

Abstract

This chapter examines the American mathematical research community in the aftermath of the stock market crash. It looks at the extent to which the American mathematical research community was able to sustain the momentum it had built up over the course of the twenties. The publication was affected as the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) both had to cut costs, but the AMS, in particular, launched another fund drive, this time targeting academic institutions for support for its journal enterprise. The chapter also investigates how a number of programs in the Northeast, the Midwest, the West, and the South maintained or even strengthened their programs in mathematics at this time of financial hardship. It then considers the newly founded journals as well as a new type of institution, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, created ex nihilo from philanthropic dollars.