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WFNMC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING notes 07 July 2008, Monterrey, Mexico

The meeting was opened by the President at 5:03 PM, who proposed the following agenda:

  1. Reports by the members of the Executive.
  2. Change in Constitution.
  3. Election of Officers and Standing Committees’ members.
  4. Agnis Angans’ report on the Federation’s Congress in Riga-2010.

The agenda was approved by all present in favor, except for Tony Gardiner who voted against.

  1. REPORTS.

    Senior Vice President Tony Gardiner’s report (a summary): It has been a privilege to serve the Federation. In the 1980s-90s, it was a very valuable resource. In the later 1990s and 2000s this position changed somewhat. When we were invited to host the Conference (took place in July-2006 at Cambridge), we decided to insert new ideas, new people. I think it was very special. I voted against the agenda, so I have to leave as the agenda is unconstitutional. Tony Gardiner left the Meeting at this stage.

    Vice President Maria de Losada’s report (a summary): In 2004 it was decided to have mini-conference, which was confirmed in 2006. The conference has taken place here the day before the opening of the Congress and was successful.

    Secretary Alexander Soifer’s report (a summary): I have served as the secretary of the Federation for the past 12 years. My job has been to faithfully record minutes of the meetings of the Federation (public) and the Executive (confidential). I have also worked with organizers of ICME Congresses on removing scheduling conflicts, and getting acceptable times and rooms for the Federation meetings. In 2004 I have reviewed the Constitution and proposed changes, which were approved by the Executive and by the membership of the Federation.

    Publication Officer Jaroslav Svrcek’s report (a summary): I have been the Publication Officer and Editor of the Mathematics Competitions (MC) journal for nearly 6 years, since the 2002 Melbourne Conference. MC is supported by the Australian Mathematics Trust (and by the United Kingdom Trust – added by Peter Taylor). MC usually consists of 160 pages a year, and is on its 21st year of existence (23rd if to count the original newsletter). You can find the list of refereed MC papers on the Internet.

    Immediate Past President Peter Taylor’s report (a summary): The Awards Committee has nominated, and the Executive approved the Erdös Awards, in Cambridge-2006 to Alexander Soifer, Ali Rejali, and Simon Shua. This time the Awards go to Bruce Henry, Dieter Gronau, and Leou Shian. We have had competitive nominees, and I will pass their files to Petar Kenderov, the incoming Chair of the Awards Committee. Forward your nominations of best people of your region to him, with the list of references.

    President Petar Kenderov’s report (a summary): The World Federation (WFNMC) is our response to the need of the international cooperation in the area of competitions. In 1994 WFNMC became an Affiliated Study Group of ICME. Study 16: Challenging Mathematics in and out of Classroom, ordered by ICMI’s Executive Committee, has been a success, achieved by some 46 authors under the leadership of Peter Taylor and Ed Barbeau.

  2. CHANGE OF CONSTITUTION

    Petar Kenderov: WFNMC is a loose organization, not even legally registered. If someone else were to register under this name, we would not be able to continue using it. The Executive asked Sasha Soifer to look into the registration of the Federation in the USA. President/Manager and Treasurer are needed for such a registration, should we decide to go ahead with the registration. The Executive proposes to create the position of the Treasurer, which existed until the 2004 change in the Constitution. This will be achieved if we restore the text stricken out at the 2004 General Meeting (Article 8; sections1, 2-vi, and 3-vi); this change becomes effective when and whether the Membership approves it at the General Meeting by a 2/3 majority:

    Article 8 -- ORGANIZATION

    1. The Federation will be administered by Officers who are individuals elected from the members. The Officer positions are eight as defined in Section 8.3, and these officers will constitute the Executive Committee of the WFNMC.
    2. The Officers will be elected by the members for four-year renewable terms, as follows:-
      1. President
      2. Vice-President (of which there shall be three, one of whom will be designated Senior Vice-President)
      3. Publications Officer
      4. Immediate Past President
      5. Secretary
      6. Treasurer
    3. Duties of the Officers are defined as follows:-
      1. President: The President will preside at meetings of the Executive and of WFNMC members, will serve ex-officio on all committees, will ensure the coordination of all Federation activities, will prepare agendas for general meetings, and will represent the WFNMC at official functions as necessary, and will maintain relations with international bodies with which the WFNMC is affiliated. The President's time in office is limited to one 4-year term, after which time the President becomes "Immediate Past President" for one 4-year term.
      2. Vice-President: The Vice-Presidents will be responsible for membership, and presentation of candidates for office at times of elections. These duties will be shared by the three. The Senior Vice-President will chair the Executive Committee in the absence of the President and will chair the Program Committee.
      3. Publications Officer: The Publications Officer will be responsible for the production of federation materials, specifically the Journal of the Federation, and for other materials as approved by the Executive.
      4. The Immediate Past President shall serve as Chair of the Awards Committee and will be responsible for the gathering of nominations for the Federation's Awards, for working with the Awards Committee to select worthy recipients, and for recommending recipients to the Executive Committee.
      5. Secretary: The Secretary is responsible for the recording and distribution of minutes for all regular and special meetings of the members of the Executive Committee, and for the preparation of any necessary correspondence pertaining to the business of the Federation.
      6. Treasurer: The Treasurer is responsible for the collection of any assigned fees, contributions from supporting bodies, or other monies as may be assigned to the Federation, and is also responsible for disbursements on behalf of the Federation. The Treasurer will present an annual financial statement to be published in the Journal.

    The change in the Constitution has been approved by all members voting in favor, with Bill Richardson abstaining.

  3. ELECTIONS

    The following were overwhelmingly elected:

    THE EXECUTIVE:
    President: Maria Falk de Losada (Colombia)
    Senior Vice President: Alexander Soifer (USA)
    Vice President: Robert Geretschläger (Austria)
    Vice President: Ali Rejali (Iran)
    Secretary: Kiril Bankov (Bulgaria)
    Publication Officer: Jaroslav Švrcek (Czech Republic)
    Immediate Past President: Petar Kenderov (Bulgaria)
    Treasurer: Peter Taylor (Australia)

    PROGRAM COMMITTEE:
    Alexander Soifer, Chair (USA)
    Ian VanderBurgh (Canada)
    Kiril Bankov (Bulgaria)
    Ali Rejali (Iran)
    Jordan Tabov (Bulgaria)

    AWARDS COMMITTEE:
    Petar Kenderov, Chair (Bulgaria)
    Agnis Angans (Latvia)
    Radmila Bulajich (Mexico)
    Peter Taylor (Australila)
    John Webb (South Africa)

    REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE (Unchanged):
    Harold Reiter (USA)
    John Webb (South Africa)
    Nikolay Konstantinov (Russia)
    Francisco Bellot-Rosado (Spain)
    Pak-Hong Cheung (China)
    Derek Holton (New Zealand)
    Patricia Fauring (Argentina)

    EDITORIAL COMMITTEE (unchanged):
    Jaroslav Svrcek, Editor (Czech Republic)
    Associate Editor: Bruce Henry (Australia)
    Associate Editor: Garreth Griffith (Canada)

  4. WFNMC-6 RIGA 2010

    Agnis Angans reported on the preparations of the 2010 Riga, Latvia Conference of the Federation. The local organizers will create a program in consultation with the Executive (and the Program Committee). Rich cultural life of Riga will be tapped for the Conference.

The General Meeting ended with the address by the newly elected President, Maria Falk de Losada: I am sure we will have fruitful 4 years. I was pleased to have several discussion groups. I believe the work could be generalized. We have in the World Federation a great number of people, who contributed. We ought to influence ICME or IMO to change their dates (to eliminate constant scheduling conflicts). I hope the mini-conference at ICMEs will become a regular event. Please, write to me with your ideas. I will be very happy to hear from you.

Recorded for the membership and posterity by Alexander Soifer, the Secretary of the WFNMC.

The Secretary, Alexander Soifer, thanks the Executive and the Membership for the honor of serving them in this capacity for 12 years, and passes the baton (or is it a magic pen?) to the incoming Secretary Dr. Kiril Bankov.


  

 
 
 
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