Alliance Leadership

The present National Alliance has resulted from a merger of three programs in the math sciences, each of which has been successful at increasing the number of students from underrepresented groups who:

• enter graduate programs in the mathematical sciences.
• obtain a Ph.D. in these fields.
• enter the professoriate or the workforces in these fields.

We refer to these programs as Alliance Anchor Programs. In addition to building on these programs, the Alliance has embarked on an initiative to extend its activities to statistics. Present Alliance leadership reflects this history.

Alliance Director:

Phil Kutzko, Professor of Mathematics and Collegiate Fellow at the University of Iowa. Professor Kutzko is a co-founder of the original Iowa Alliance, one of the Alliance Anchor Programs, and wrote the successful proposals to NSF which presently fund the National Alliance. He also, along with his colleagues in the University of Iowa Department of Mathematics, has played a key role in the University of Iowa Graduate Minority Initiative in Mathematics.

Alliance Co-Director:

Carlos Castillo-Chavez, Joaquin Bustoz Jr. Professor of Mathematical Biology, Regents Professor and Distinguished Sustainability Scientist at Arizona State University. Professor Castillo-Chavez is the founder and director of the Mathematical Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI), one of our three Anchor Programs. He is a national leader in the effort to transform the mathematical sciences into a diverse and inclusive profession. Please click here for details on MTBI as well as for information on Professor Castillo-Chavez's remarkable career and many honors.

Alliance Co-Director:

Kathryn Chaloner, Professor of Biostatistics and Chair of the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Iowa. Professor Chaloner has presided over the transformation of her department's graduate program into one of the most diverse such programs nationally. For these efforts, she was awarded the 2011 University of Iowa Catalyst Award. Professor Chaloner leads our Alliance Statistics Initiative.

Alliance Co-Director:

Aloysius (Loek) Helminck, Professor of Mathematics and Head of the Department of Mathematics at North Carolina State University. Under Professor Helminck's leadership, the math department at North Carolina State University has produced 13 African American Ph.D.s in the last ten years, leading the nation in this area. See here for further information on the North Carolina State University math department's accomplishments. Professor Helminck wrote the successful proposal to NSF which funds a minority postdoctoral program, the Alliance for Building Faculty Diversity in the Mathematical Sciences, which is now a National Alliance affiliated program and is one of our Alliance Anchor Programs. He also created an alliance between NC State University and HBCUs in the southeastern US to mentor African American students through a variety of research experiences.

Alliance Governance

Alliance governance has, so far, reflected its history: the current Alliance Directorate consists of the directors of the three Alliance Anchor Programs together with the director of the Alliance's Statistics Initiative. This leadership group was proposed at a meeting of Alliance Graduate Faculty at the 2009 Mathematical Field of Dreams Conference and was approved by a vote of all Alliance Faculty in attendance at that meeting. It was understood at the time of this decision that this would be a short term arrangement that would enable the Directorate to oversee the transition to a permanent program. Now that this transition is largely complete, a long term governance structure (see below) will be proposed by the Directorate in early September, 2011; this structure will be discussed among Alliance Faculty and voted on by a group of Alliance Faculty consisting of one representative from each department which has faculty who participate in the Alliance. It will be announced at the 2011 Mathematical Field of Dreams conference and will be posted here.

Alliance governance will reflect these goals:

• The Alliance is built on its community of students and faculty and will be governed in a way that reflects its community origins. Leadership will be inclusive and transparent.
• The Alliance has always worked toward the institutionalization of its goals and programs and has worked to mentor and train new leaders. This will be formalized as part of the governance structure.

Initial Proposal for ongoing Alliance leadership:

The proposed governance structure will consist of a director, three co-directors, two Alliance Undergraduate Program Coordinators and an Alliance council consisting of Alliance Undergraduate Faculty, Alliance Graduate Faculty and representatives selected by Alliance Graduate Scholars. The director, co-directors and Alliance Undergraduate Program Coordinators will serve staggered three year terms. Details will be worked out as the discussion described above evolves.