National President of the Association for Women in Mathematics

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Professor Sylvia Wiegand, a UNL faculty member since 1972, was the National President of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), a national organization founded in 1971. AWM works to encourage women to study and participate in mathematics and to highlight the accomplishments of women in mathematics.

Sylvia has been involved in leadership roles in the profession for many years. She was elected to a three-year term on the Council of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) in 1994 and to a four-year term on the Executive Board of Directors of the Canadian Math Society in 1997.

As of 1998, she was a member of the AMS Nominating Committee and its Committee on Meetings and Conferences, a policy committee she previously chaired. She is an editor for two mathematical research journals, Communications in Algebra and the Rocky Mountain Journal of Mathematics.

As part of her work with AWM, Sylvia has become involved in efforts to promote mathematics and science issues on Capitol Hill and has urged AWM members to become involved in advocating for increases in federal support of mathematics and science education and research.

In the picture above, Sylvia is shown on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with Jim Lewis, chair of the UNL Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and U.S. Senator Bill Frist, chair of the Senate Committee on Science. Sylvia, Jim and the Senator are surrounded by students from the Senator's home state of Tennessee.