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Fall 2007 Vol. VI, No. 1
Inside the Gate
Campaign Update
Math For Life
Establishment of the Sir Michael Atiyah Chair in Mathematical Sciences at AUB
The first Arab Human Development Report, which the United
National Development Programme (UNDP) – Arab Fund for Economic and Social
Development issued in 2002, was entitled “Creating Opportunities for Future
Generations.” The report identified three deficits relating to freedom,
empowerment of women, and knowledge as “serious obstacles to human development.”
It went on to describe “lagging human development” as a “major obstacle
that prevents the Arab region from confronting the challenges of globalization.”
The UNDP has launched several projects to address the “knowledge deficit”
including the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS),
a series of comparative assessments that are conducted every four years
to gather data about trends in mathematics and science achievement.
The data collected in the Arab Regional Report for TIMSS 2003 indicated
that the Arab world fell well below the international average both in
mathematics and science with a larger discrepancy in fourth grade performance,
than in eighth grade. The TIMSS survey has already led to educational
reforms in curriculum, evaluation, and assessment standards and raised
awareness in the Arab world of the need for reform in teaching methodologies.
The survey was conducted again in 2007 in 15 Arab countries.
Many AUB faculty members and graduates have been involved in educational
reform efforts in the region. AUB has also played an important role in
addressing the “knowledge deficit” in the Arab world as an institution
of higher learning and through its support of some important regional
initiatives such as the establishment at AUB of the Center for Advanced
Mathematical Sciences (CAMS). It is probably safe to say, however, that
the undisputed champion of mathematics education in the world is Dr. James
H. Simons and the foundation that he established in 1994, The Simons Foundation.
The Simons Foundation has recently made a $2 million pledge to establish
the Sir Michael Atiyah Chair in Mathematical Sciences at AUB. In announcing
the gift Dr. Simons and his wife, Dr. Marilyn Hawrys Simons, spoke of
their strong personal friendship and deep respect for Sir Michael: “We
are delighted to be associated with the establishment of the Sir Michael
Atiyah Chair in Mathematics at AUB. Sir Michael is a good friend and someone
we have admired for many years. He has played an important and critical
role in the University’s efforts to reestablish itself as a research university.
The Sir Michael Atiyah Chair will enable the university to attract top
researchers and professors who will provide unparalleled educational opportunities
for students at AUB.”
Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Khalil Bitar noted that the gift will
bring new possibilities to the study of mathematics at AUB: “The recent
surge in the use of mathematical techniques via computer simulations in
fields that traditionally have not made use of mathematical analysis and/or
mathematical modeling will be greatly enhanced with leadership in this
chair in the mathematical sciences at AUB.”
In addition to being president and founder of Renaissance Technologies
LLC, an extraordinarily successful private investment firm, James Simons
is also founder and chairman of Math for America (MfA), an education program
that provides training and support for hundreds of math teachers in New
York City every year. He and his wife, who is president of The Simons
Foundation, have been involved in education for many years as teachers,
administrators, and philanthropists. Although their support for education
is not limited to mathematical sciences, they have made a number of important
gifts in this area. In addition to the almost $50 million that James Simons
has committed to Math for America, The Simons Foundation has supported
the Center for Advanced Study at Tsinghua University in Beijing; the Mathematical
Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California; and the Institut
des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES) in Bures-sur-Yvette, France.
AUB’s new chair in mathematical sciences is being named for one of CAMS’s
strongest supporters: Sir Michael Atiyah, who has been described as “one
of the greatest living mathematicians” and “among the most influential
mathematicians of the 20th century.” With Isadore Singer, he received
the second Abel Prize (a prize that is widely recognized as the equivalent
of the Nobel Prize) in 2004 for the Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem—an achievement
that the Norwegian Academy of Science hailed as “one of the great landmarks
of 20th century mathematics.” He has received numerous honors throughout
a long and particularly distinguished career including a Fields Medal
in 1966, the Feltrinelli Prize in 1981, the King Faisal International
Prize for Science in 1987, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in 1993.
Sir Michael has been a familiar presence on the AUB campus in recent years.
He was the commencement speaker in 2001 and was awarded an honorary degree
in 2004. His presence has been felt most strongly, however, as the chair
of the CAMS’s distinguished International Advisory Committee, which counsels
the president and the director of the center on scientific policy and
programs, a position he has held since the center was founded in 1999.
On several occasions, Sir Michael has spoken eloquently and passionately
about the importance of mathematics. As the commencement speaker in 2001,
Sir Michael described mathematics as “an essential component of our world.
In all the sciences, physical, biological or social, mathematics is increasingly
important, and in recent years the business and financial community has
also woken up to this fact." When he was awarded an honorary doctorate
in 2004, he described himself as “a firm believer in the fundamental and
central role that mathematics plays in our modern technological society,
where it underpins everything from science and engineering to finance
and economics.”
Initiatives such as AUB’s Center for Advanced Mathematical Sciences, the
reintroduction of PhD programs, and this gift from The Simons Foundation
to establish the Sir Michael Atiyah Chair in Mathematical Sciences are
enabling AUB to play an even greater role in ensuring that education in
the region “integrates the Arab people into the age in which they live,
an age governed by the exactness of science—its causality, rigor, and
method.”1 And for James and Marilyn Simons, this is exactly the role that
they hope the University will continue to strive to achieve: “For many
years AUB has been a beacon of scholarship and tolerance in an embattled
part of the world. We are pleased to think that our contribution will
help and strengthen the University in continuing to fulfill this important
mission.”
The arab regional report for TIMSS 2003 indicated
that the arab world fell well below the international average both in
mathematics and science.
1 Arab Human Development Report 2002.
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