Yueh-Gin Gung and Dr. Charles Y. Hu Award for 2010 to Kenneth A. Ross for Distinguished Service to Mathematics

Abstract

Ken Ross has made many contributions to mathematics over a long career. From 1971 to 1980 he served the American Mathematical Society (AMS) as Associate Secretary for the Western Section, and in 1983 he was elected Secretary of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). When the responsibilities of the MAA Secretary were split in 1989, he became the MAA’s first Associate Secretary and continued to be responsible for the MAA presence in the national joint AMS-MAA meetings. He had long been involved with meetings; during his appointment at the AMS he was in charge of AMS regional meetings as well as any national meetings held in a Western city. In these assignments for the AMS and the MAA he traveled extensively to check out possible meeting sites. At the time of the meetings Ken was everywhere at once to ensure that everything was going smoothly. Of course, as MAA Secretary he was also responsible for keeping track of all the committees, preparing materials for Executive Committee and Board of Governors meetings, and generally keeping the business of the Association on track. In these various roles he showed great talent for working well with people, quietly making sure that everything got done. And, at least on the outside, he always appeared calm and in control. In 1993 Ken was elected MAA President and successfully led the MAA during a particularly challenging time due to financial problems. Following his term as President, he went on to chair the Response Group on the NCTM Standards, a potentially