International Mathematical Union

The IMU was established in 1920, but dissolved in September 1932 and reestablished in 1950 at the Constitutive Convention in New York, de jure on September 10, 1951, when ten countries had become members. The last milestone was the General Assembly in March 1952, in Rome, Italy where the activities of the new IMU were inaugurated and the first Executive Committee, President and various commissions were elected. In 1952 the IMU was also readmitted to the ICSU. The past president of the Union is Carlos Kenig (2019–2022). The current president is Hiraku Nakajima.

At the 16th meeting of the IMU General Assembly in Bangalore, India, in August 2010, Berlin was chosen as the location of the permanent office of the IMU, which was opened on January 1, 2011, and is hosted by the Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS), an institute of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community, with about 120 scientists engaging in mathematical research applied to complex problems in industry and commerce.{{Cite web |url=http://www.icm2010.org.in/imu-general-assembley-2010 |title=IMU General Assembly in Bangalore, India in August 2010 |access-date=2011-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903052817/http://www.icm2010.org.in/imu-general-assembley-2010 |archive-date=2011-09-03 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.wias-berlin.de/|title=Weierstrass Institute|website=wias-berlin.de|access-date=19 November 2017}}

IMU has a close relationship to mathematics education through its International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI). This commission is organized similarly to IMU with its own Executive Committee and General Assembly.

Developing countries are a high priority for the IMU and a significant percentage of its budget, including grants received from individuals, mathematical societies, foundations, and funding agencies, is spent on activities for developing countries. Since 2011 this has been coordinated by the Commission for Developing Countries (CDC).

The Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM) is concerned with issues related to women in mathematics worldwide. It organizes the World Meeting for Women in Mathematics $((\backslash mathrm\{WM\})^2)$ as a satellite event of ICM.

The International Commission on the History of Mathematics (ICHM) is operated jointly by the IMU and the Division of the History of Science (DHS) of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS).

The Committee on Electronic Information and Communication (CEIC) advises IMU on matters concerning mathematical information, communication, and publishing.{{cite web|url=http://www.mathunion.org/ceic|title=CEIC|first=IMU Committee on Electronic Information and|last=Communication|website=mathunion.org|access-date=19 November 2017}}

The scientific prizes awarded by the IMU, in the quadrennial International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), are deemed to be some of the highest distinctions in the mathematical world.{{cite web | url=https://www.ias.edu/news/2022/scholars-win-imu-awards-for-mathematical-achievement | title=IAS Scholars Win IMU Awards 2022 for Mathematical Achievement, including Fields Medal – IAS News | Institute for Advanced Study | date=5 July 2022 }} These are:

• the Fields Medals (two to four awarded per Congress, since 1936);
• the IMU Abacus Medal (previously known as the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize; awarded since 1986);
• the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize (since 2006);
• the Chern Medal (since 2010); and
• the Leelavati Award (since 2010).{{Cite web |date=2022-06-25 |title=IMU awards |url=https://www.mathunion.org/imu-awards/imu-awards-prizes-and-special-lecture |website=International Mathematical Union}}

The IMU's members are Member Countries and each Member country is represented through an Adhering Organization, which may be its principal academy, a mathematical society, its research council or some other institution or association of institutions, or an appropriate agency of its government. A country starting to develop its mathematical culture and interested in building links with mathematicians all over the world is invited to join IMU as an Associate Member. For the purpose of facilitating jointly sponsored activities and jointly pursuing the objectives of the IMU, multinational mathematical societies and professional societies can join IMU as an Affiliate Member. Every four years, the IMU membership gathers in a General Assembly (GA), which consists of delegates appointed by the Adhering Organizations, together with the members of the executive committee. All important decisions are made at the GA, including the election of the officers, establishment of commissions, the approval of the budget, and any changes to the statutes and by-laws.

The IMU has 83 (full) Member countries and two Associate Members (Bangladesh and Paraguay, marked below by light grey background).{{cite web|url=https://www.mathunion.org/membership/imu-members|title=International Mathematical Union (IMU): Member Countries}}

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{{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=disc}}

{{Cnote2|Note CHN|Due to the delicate and contentious political status of Taiwan, China has two Adhering Societies to the IMU, which split the voting rights in the General Assembly. The Chinese Mathematical Society in Beijing has three votes, and the Mathematical Society of the Republic of China, located in Tapei, has two votes.}}

{{Cnote2 End}}

The IMU has five affiliate members:{{cite web|url=https://www.mathunion.org/membership/affiliate-members|title=International Mathematical Union (IMU): Affiliate Member}}

• African Mathematical Union (AMU)
• European Mathematical Society (EMS)
• Mathematical Council of the Americas (MCofA)
• Southeast Asian Mathematical Society (SEAMS)
• Unión Matemática de América Latina y el Caribe (UMALCA)

The International Mathematical Union is administered by an executive committee (EC) which conducts the business of the Union.{{cite web|url=https://www.mathunion.org/organization/imu-executive-committee|title=International Mathematical Union (IMU): Executive Committee}} The EC consists of the President, two vice-presidents, the Secretary, six Members-at-Large, all elected for a term of four years, and the Past President. The EC is responsible for all policy matters and for tasks, such as choosing the members of the ICM Program Committee and various prize committees.

Every two months IMU publishes an electronic newsletter, IMU-Net, that aims to improve communication between IMU and the worldwide mathematical community by reporting on decisions and recommendations of the Union, major international mathematical events and developments, and on other topics of general mathematical interest. IMU Bulletins are published annually with the aim to inform IMU's members about the Union's current activities. In 2009 IMU published the document Best Current Practices for Journals.{{cite web|url=http://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/CEIC/bestpractice/bpfinal.pdf|title=Best Current Practices for Journals|access-date=19 November 2017}}

The IMU took its first organized steps towards the promotion of mathematics in developing countries in the early 1970s and has, since then supported various activities. In 2010 IMU formed the Commission for Developing Countries (CDC) which brings together all of the past and current initiatives in support of mathematics and mathematicians in the developing world.

Some IMU Supported Initiatives:

• Grants Program for Mathematicians: The Commission for Developing Countries supports research travel of mathematicians based in developing countries as well as mathematics research conferences in the developing world through its Grants Program which is open to mathematicians throughout the developing world, including countries that are not (yet) members of the IMU.{{cite web|url=http://www.mathunion.org/cdc/grants/|title=Grants - CDC|first=IMU Commission for Developing|last=Countries|website=www.mathunion.org|access-date=19 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713063944/http://www.mathunion.org/cdc/grants/|archive-date=13 July 2014|url-status=dead}}
• African Mathematics Millennium Science Initiative (AMMSI) is a network of mathematics centers in sub-Saharan Africa that organizes conferences and workshops, visiting lectureships and an extensive scholarship program for mathematics graduate students doing PhD work on the African continent.
• Mentoring African Research in Mathematics (MARM): IMU supported the London Mathematical Society (LMS) in founding the MARM programme, which supports mathematics and its teaching in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa via a mentoring partnership between mathematicians in the United Kingdom and African colleagues, together with their students. It focuses on cultivating long-term mentoring relations between individual mathematicians and students.
• Volunteer Lecturer Program (VLP) of IMU identifies mathematicians interested in contributing to the formation of young mathematicians in the developing world. The Volunteer Lecturer Program maintains a database of mathematic volunteers willing to offer month-long intensive courses at the advanced undergraduate or graduate level in degree programmes at universities in the developing world. IMU also seeks applications from universities and mathematics degree programmes in the developing world that are in need of volunteer lecturers, and that can provide the necessary conditions for productive collaboration in the teaching of advanced mathematics.

IMU also supports the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) with its programmes, exhibits and workshops in emerging countries, especially in Asia and Africa.

IMU released a report in 2008, Mathematics in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities, on the current state of mathematics in Africa and on opportunities for new initiatives to support mathematical development.{{cite web|url=http://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/IMU/Report/Mathematics_in_Africa_Challenges___Opportunities.pdf|title=Mathematics in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities|access-date=19 November 2017}} In 2014, the IMU's Commission for Developing Countries CDC released an update of the report.{{cite web|url=http://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/CDC/cdc-uploads/CDC_MENAO/Africa_Report.pdf|title=Mathematics in Africa 2014 Update|access-date=19 November 2017}}

Additionally, reports about Mathematics in Latin America and the Caribbean and South East Asia.

[http://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/CDC/cdc-uploads/CDC_MENAO/Mathematics_in_Latin_America_and_the_Caribbean.Report.pdf Mathematics in Latin America report] were published.

In July 2014 IMU released the report: The International Mathematical Union in the Developing World: Past, Present and Future (July 2014).

{{cite web|url=http://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/CDC/cdc-uploads/CVgrantsConference/The_INTERNATIONAL_MATHEMATICAL_UNION_in_the_DEVELOPING_WORLD-_Past__Present_and_Future.pdf|title=The International Mathematical Union in the Developing World|access-date=19 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402174323/http://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/CDC/cdc-uploads/CVgrantsConference/The_INTERNATIONAL_MATHEMATICAL_UNION_in_the_DEVELOPING_WORLD-_Past__Present_and_Future.pdf|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}}

In 2014, the IMU held a day-long symposium prior to the opening of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), entitled Mathematics in Emerging Nations: Achievements and Opportunities (MENAO). Approximately 260 participants from around the world, including representatives of embassies, scientific institutions, private business and foundations attended this session. Attendees heard inspiring stories of individual mathematicians and specific developing nations.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eODi4b5d27Y&list=PL0c-546bsozhAecE1btXl18BO8p1fL_7u here MENAO Channel] at YoutubeMENAO (12 August 2014)[http://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/CDC/cdc-uploads/menao_doku_141120.pdf Symposium Report: Mathematics in Emerging Nations: Achievements and Opportunities]

List of presidents of the International Mathematical Union from 1952 to the present:

1952–1954: {{flagicon|USA}} Marshall Harvey Stone (vice: {{flagicon|France}} Émile Borel, {{flagicon|Germany}} Erich Kamke)

1955–1958: {{flagicon|Germany}} Heinz Hopf (vice: {{flagicon|France}} Arnaud Denjoy, {{flagicon|GBR}} W. V. D. Hodge)

1959–1962: {{flagicon|Finland}} Rolf Nevanlinna (vice: {{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Pavel Alexandrov, {{flagicon|USA}} Marston Morse)

1963–1966: {{flagicon|Switzerland}} Georges de Rham (vice: {{flagicon|France}} Henri Cartan, {{flagicon|Poland}} Kazimierz Kuratowski)

1967–1970: {{flagicon|France}} Henri Cartan (vice: {{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Mikhail Lavrentyev, {{flagicon|USA}} Deane Montgomery)

1971–1974: {{flagicon|India}} K. S. Chandrasekharan (vice: {{flagicon|USA}} Abraham Adrian Albert, {{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Lev Pontryagin)

1975–1978: {{flagicon|USA}} Deane Montgomery (vice: {{flagicon|GBR}} J. W. S. Cassels, {{flagicon|Romania}} Miron Nicolescu, {{flagicon|Romania}} Gheorghe Vrânceanu)

1979–1982: {{flagicon|Sweden}} Lennart Carleson (vice: {{flagicon|Japan}} Masayoshi Nagata, {{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Yuri Vasilyevich Prokhorov)

1983–1986: {{flagicon|Germany}} Jürgen Moser (vice: {{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Ludvig Faddeev, {{flagicon|France}} Jean-Pierre Serre)

1987–1990: {{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Ludvig Faddeev (vice: {{flagicon|Austria}} Walter Feit, {{flagicon|Sweden}} Lars Hörmander)

1991–1994: {{flagicon|France}} Jacques-Louis Lions (vice: {{flagicon|GBR}} John H. Coates, {{flagicon|USA}} David Mumford)

1995–1998: {{flagicon|USA}} David Mumford (vice: {{flagicon|Russia}} Vladimir Arnold, {{flagicon|Germany}} Albrecht Dold)

1999–2002: {{flagicon|Brazil}} Jacob Palis (vice: {{flagicon|GBR}} Simon Donaldson, {{flagicon|Japan}} Shigefumi Mori)

2003–2006: {{flagicon|GBR}} John M. Ball (vice: {{flagicon|France}} Jean-Michel Bismut, {{flagicon|Japan}} Masaki Kashiwara)

2007–2010: {{flagicon|Hungary}} László Lovász (vice: {{flagicon|China}} Zhi-Ming Ma, {{flagicon|Italy}} Claudio Procesi)

2011–2014: {{flagicon|Belgium}} Ingrid Daubechies (vice: {{flagicon|France}} Christiane Rousseau, {{flagicon|Brazil}} Marcelo Viana)

2015–2018: {{flagicon|Japan}} Shigefumi Mori (vice: {{flagicon|Argentina}} Alicia Dickenstein, {{flagicon|New Zealand}} Vaughan Jones)

2019–2022: {{flagicon|Argentina}} Carlos Kenig (vice: {{flagicon|Australia}} Nalini Joshi, {{flagicon|South Africa}} Loyiso Nongxa)

2023–2026: {{flagicon|Japan}}Hiraku Nakajima (vice: {{flagicon|GBR}} Ulrike Tillmann, {{flagicon|Colombia}} Tatiana Toro)

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book | last=Lehto | first=Olli | title=Mathematics without borders | location=New York, NY | publisher=Springer-Verlag | year=1998 | isbn=0-387-98358-9 | zbl=0889.01021 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110514102526/http://www.mathunion.org/imu-net/ IMU Newsletter]
• {{cite book|author=Olli Lehto|title=Mathematics Without Borders: A History of the International Mathematical Union|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YxTSBwAAQBAJ|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4612-0613-2}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.mathunion.org/organization/ec/ec-1952-2014/ |title=IMU Executive Committees 1952-2014 |access-date=16 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108154651/http://www.mathunion.org/organization/ec/ec-1952-2014 |archive-date=8 January 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.mathunion.org/fileadmin/IMU/EC/2015-2018/150211_2015-2018_IMU_Leadership_WEB.pdf |title=IMU Leadership 2015 – 2018 |access-date=16 April 2015}}

• {{official website|http://www.mathunion.org/}} – International Mathematical Union
• [http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=83171&CultureCode=en First Woman President of the International Mathematical Union] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203024926/http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=83171&CultureCode=en |date=2013-12-03 }}, August 2010, AlphaGalileo
• [http://www.ias.edu/news/press-releases/2010/08/19/fields-2010 Fields Medal 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202225454/http://www.ias.edu/news/press-releases/2010/08/19/fields-2010 |date=2013-12-02 }}
• [http://www.ammsi.org/ African Mathematics Millennium Science Initiative (AMMSI)]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111216130604/http://www.lms.ac.uk/content/mentoring-african-research-mathematics Mentoring African Research in Mathematics (MARM)] (archived 16 December 2011)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202232740/http://www.icsu.org/publicdb/frmDisplayMember?docid=33a00f3936390731b87da9f649a09a35 IMU, International Mathematical Union] (archived 2 December 2013)
• [https://archive.today/20130101132628/http://www.research.utoronto.ca/research-funding-opportunities/international-mathematical-union-fields-medal/ International Mathematical Union Fields Medal] (archived 1 January 2013)

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