Robert Vallin, MAA's First-Ever Associate Director for Student Activities

Robert Vallin's goal is simple: to make the MAA the primary organization for students when it comes to all things mathematical. Vallin has just joined the MAA staff in Washington, D.C., becoming the organization's first-ever Associate Director for Student Activities.

A full professor at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania since 1992, Vallin has taken a two-year leave of absence to take on the challenge of making high school and undergraduate students feel welcome in the MAA. "The whole thing is new, and that was a big part of the appeal . . . that I get to be the first person to do it," Vallin said.

Vallin's focus will be on any and all aspects of student membership, including recruitment, grant applications and distribution, and membership retention. One of his first goals is to make the MAA the best place for students to find out about careers in mathematics. "We really need to become the go-to place for students," Vallin said.

Becoming a more valuable resource in the mathematical lives of students will take time and require an effort by the MAA as a whole. "Part of it is becoming more of an immediate presence with these students . . . getting more of them interested," Vallin said. A key part will involve greatly expanding the student section of the MAA website.

One of Vallin's other ideas is to get the individual sections of the MAA to work together more closely and to encourage them to brainstorm and share their ideas. "I'd like to go to as many sectional meetings as I can, and start working the MAA as the clearinghouse for ideas," Vallin said.

Working in Washington, D.C., is a homecoming of sorts for Vallin, who grew up in Bethesda, Md., and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1986. He obtained both his masters and doctoral degrees from North Carolina State University. Vallin has been involved with the MAA for some time, including holding the position of Coordinator of Student Programs for the Allegheny Mountain section. He has also written two articles for Math Horizons: "The Gangs of New Math" (November 2005) and "Taming Mathematical Monsters" (November 2004).—R. Miller