2007 National MAA Certificate of Meritorious Service

The following citation was read at the Joint Meetings in New Orleans when Donna Beers received the Award.

Donna Beers, Northeastern Section

Donna Beers has long been generous and gracious in offering her time, talents and infectious enthusiasm to The Mathematical Association of America through both the Northeastern Section and the national organization. She is well known and highly regarded by mathematicians and mathematics educators throughout the broader mathematics community. It is no surprise to many that the MAA would seize this opportunity to recognize and honor Donna through this MAA Certificate for Meritorious Service.

Her contributions to our association are numerous and varied. Donna served as section vice chairperson from 1992-1993, chairperson from 1993-1995, and past chairperson from 1995-1997. She served as section governor from 2000-2003. Throughout the period of her leadership the section continued to prosper by offering varied and interesting programs that were well received by the membership. Donna has often been an invited speaker at section meetings, from the 1970s to the present, where she offered her insights into a variety of mathematical and educational topics. In 2003 she gave the invited presentation for students at the MAA-AMS Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore. In addition, she has given many contributed papers at both section and national meetings. Further, she has served on and chaired numerous NES/MAA committees, including several program committees for section meetings. She is a current or former member of the MAA editorial boards of the American Mathematical Monthly, Mathematics Magazine, the Dolciani Mathematical Expositions, and Focus/MAA Online. She served on the steering committee of the MAA PREP Workshop, Leading the Academic Department: A Workshop for Chairs of a Mathematical Sciences Department. At present, she serves on the MAA Investment Committee, the Chauvenet Prize Committee, and the editorial board of the Anneli Lax New Mathematical Library.

Donna is professor and past chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Simmons College, where she has been since 1986. Her scholarly interests include preparation of teachers, undergraduate research, and abelian groups. She served as director of the Honors Program, and created a very successful interdisciplinary Honors seminar on patterns. She also served as director and principal investigator of the Verizon Scholars Program, a mentoring and outreach program with TechBoston, a department of the Boston Public Schools, for high school women interested in Web design and programming. Donna initiated the Simmons College Student Chapter of the MAA. Members of the Simmons Chapter have delivered papers at the annual Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference as well as regional and national meetings of the MAA. She has just completed a term as Visiting Mathematician at the MAA.

For her hard work and continuing commitment to the advancement of mathematics, the MAA and the Northeastern Section are pleased to award Donna Beers this Certificate for Meritorious Service.

Response from Donna Beers

I am very honored to receive this award. I sincerely thank my colleagues in the Northeastern Section for their steadfast support, encouragement, and friendship. I deeply appreciate the Mathematical Association of America whose programs, publications, and people have enriched my life and contributed enormously to my growth and development as a professional. Thank you so much.

Maintained by Tommy Ratliff tratliff@wheatoncollege.edu
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