MAA Thanks Outgoing Associate Secretary, Welcomes New Officer to Role

Washington, DC - Since 2009, Gerard Venema has served as the associate secretary of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Venema, a professor at Calvin College, oversaw the scientific program of the MAA’s two annual national meetings, MAA MathFest and the Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) in his capacity as associate secretary, which will be filled by Hortensia Soto, a professor at the University of Northern Colorado.

During his 10 years as associate secretary, Venema coordinated more than 150 invited addresses for more than 50,000 attendees at MAA MathFest and JMM. His final meeting as MAA associate secretary was MAA MathFest in Denver, Aug. 1-4, 2018. “It has been an honor to serve MAA as associate secretary,” said Venema. “I have enjoyed working with all of the members whose contributions make the MAA programs so rich and informative. In my work as associate secretary I have focused on achieving a healthy balance in the MAA scientific programs between exposition of mathematics itself and programming that contributes to the teaching and learning of mathematics.

“We are grateful to Gerard for his hard work and dedication to the MAA during his tenure as associate secretary,” said Michael Pearson, executive director of the Mathematical Association of America. “Under his leadership, the MAA meetings offered rich, inspiring programming that reflects the diverse interests of the MAA community. We thank Gerard for the past 10 years, and we are excited to welcome Hortensia Soto as the new associate secretary,” he said.

Hortensia Soto, the new associate secretary of the association, is an active MAA member. Soto was a Project NExT fellow, served as the governor of the MAA Rocky Mountain Section, and has served on several MAA committees. Her research focuses on the teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics.

“I am excited to take on the role of MAA associate secretary,” said Soto. “My goal is to continue to bring new, inclusive, and thought-provoking programming to the MAA’s meetings.” Soto’s first meeting as MAA Associate Secretary will be the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore, Jan. 16 - 19, 2019.