Certificates of Meritorious Service, 1999
The Certificates of Meritorious Service are presented for service to
the MAA at the national level or for service to a Section of the
Association. The first such awards were made in 1984. At each
January meeting of the Association, honorees from roughly six
Sections are recognized.
The 1999 Certificates of Meritorious Service go to:
Billy E. Rhoades, Indiana Section
Citation
Billy E. Rhoades joined the MAA in 1952 when he was a
graduate student at Rutgers University. The Rutgers Mathematics
Department Head at that time -- Emory Starke, who played a
prominent role during the first half of the decade of the MAA --
would have been proud to foresee the accomplishments and service
record of Professor Rhoades, who retired as Professor of
Mathematics at Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1994 with a
distinguished and continuing record of mathematical research and
contributions to mathematics education.
Billy was a member of the Philadelphia Section (now the
EPADEL Section) of the MAA for 10 years while he was a faculty
member at Lafayette College, which he left in 1963 to join the
Committee on the Undergraduate Preparation in Mathematics
(CUPM). He served CUPM full-time during two crucial years,
first as Associate Director and then as Executive Director, until
1965 when he went to Indiana.
While in Indiana, Professor Rhoades continued to serve the
MAA at the national level through numerous committee and panel
appointments including CUPM, the Committee on Placement
Exams, the committee on Advisement and Personnel, and the
Committee on Membership as well as joint appointments with the
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the
College Entrance Examination Board. A tireless supporter of the
Indiana Section, Billy held the positions of Section vice-chair and
chair from 1967 to 1969 and Section governor from 1969 to 1972.
He is always willing to do committee work within the Section and
to make presentations at Section meetings. His exceptional service
to the Indiana Section was recognized previously when he received
the Section's Distinguished Service Award in 1994.
It is with great pleasure and gratitude that the Indiana
Section awards this Certificate of Meritorious Service to Billy E.
Rhoades of Indiana University, Bloomington.
Response from Professor Rhoades
It is with great pleasure that I accept this award. I am
grateful both to the MAA for establishing the Certificate of
Meritorious Service, and to my colleagues in the Indiana Section for
finding me worthy to be so honored.
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Charles Alexander, Louisiana-Mississippi Section
Citation
The Louisiana-Mississippi Section nominates Charles C.
Alexander, Professor of Mathematics at the University of
Mississippi, for the Section's Meritorious Service Award. Charles
Alexander served as governor of the Section from July 1995 to July
1998. His service to the Section includes many activities: chair of
the Section, 1990-91; vice-chair, 1989-90; and co-chair,
Mathematicians Concerned Committee, 1992-93. He has been a
Section member for 25 years. At the national level, Charles
Alexander has been a member of the Committee on the
Undergraduate Program in Mathematics (CUPM), the Committee
on Calculus Reform and the First Two Years (CRAFTY), the
Strengthening Under-represented Mathematics Minority
Achievement (SUMMAC) project, and was an Interactive
Mathematics Text Workshop leader in 1993-94.
He has served on the Mississippi Mathematics, Science,
and Technology Coalition as chair, as a member of the Board of
Directors of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, and as a
member of the Executive Committee of the Mississippi Teachers
of College Mathematics. He has been director of the Increasing
Minority Access to Graduate Education (IMAGE) program of the
Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation and contributed to
the Delta Rural Systemic Initiative.
Dr. Alexander received his doctorate from the University of
Kansas in 1968 and joined the Department of Mathematics at the
University of Mississippi in 1971. He has been active in research
in the areas of topology and graph theory.
Response from Professor Alexander
I am humbled and delighted to be recognized with this
award. I have been privileged to have so many opportunities to
serve in a variety of capacities. Since I believe that the primary role
in my professional and personal life is to serve others, each
opportunity for service has been its own reward. To be recognized
by my peers in this manner is beyond any expectation and is
deeply appreciated.
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Randall Heckman, Nebraska-Southeast South Dakota
Section
Citation
Dr. Randall Heckman graduated from the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln in 1971. Since that time he has been a member of
the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Kearney State
University (which is now the University of Nebraska-Kearney).
Since that time Randy has been played a very important role in the
Mathematics Department in Kearney. He has actively participated
in all aspects of curriculum development and is never too busy to
help anyone with a mathematical problem. Due to his devotion to
mathematics and his relentless pursuit of mathematical perfection,
Randy is currently a Professor of Mathematics and Statistics and
the Chair of the Department.
Randy's service to mathematics is extensive. In addition to
serving the Department and the University well, Randy has served
to Mathematical Association of America as the chair of our Section
in 1981-82, Section governor in 1987-89, and presently serves as
our Section's secretary-treasurer since 1994. His list of Section
offices does not however tell the whole story. Randy is a very
active supporter of our Section and always attends the meetings.
He actively participates in all aspects of Section affairs. His
constant enthusiasm spills over to others and has become
contagious. Randy truly exemplifies the ideal MAA member. His
service to mathematics and to the MAA is never ending.
The Nebraska-Southeastern South Dakota Section, in
appreciation for Randy's dedicated service, is proud to award
Professor Randall K. Heckman with the Distinguished Service
Award for 1999.
Response from Professor Heckman
Although I am very appreciative of being nominated and
approved for the MAA Certificate of Meritorious Service, at the
same time I find the experience to be very humbling. It has been my
pleasure to be actively associated with the Nebraska-Southeast
South Dakota Section of the MAA for the past 27 years, and I
hope to continue my active association with the MAA for many
years to come. Particularly gratifying for me have been the many
friendships in the mathematical community that I have made over
the past 27 years.
It is a true honor for me to be nominated for the Certificate
of Meritorious Service, and I would like to express my thanks to
the members of my Section for this nomination.
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David Kullman, Ohio Section
Citation
The officers of the Ohio Section have selected Professor
David Kullman of Miami University, Oxford, for the Meritorious
Service Award this year. Dr. Kullman served the Ohio Section as a
governor and liaison coordinator from 1994 through 1997. He was
president of the Section in 1991-92. He co-authored the Ohio
Section History, which was published in 1990. Dave has served as
our liaison with the Ohio Math and Science Coalition since its
inception. He has been the local arrangements coordinator for
several Section meetings and he contributes talks to the Section
meetings on a regular basis, including the Spring 1998 meeting.
Dave has served on many Section committees and he has chaired
our Committee on Teacher Education and Certification
(CONTEAC). He has also served as an informal liaison with the
Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics (OCTM) for many
years. Dave was instrumental in the implementation and
continuation of the Annual Mathematics and Statistics Conference
at Miami University, which is now in its twenty-sixth year. For
the aforementioned reasons, the Sections is pleased to nominate Dr.
David Kullman for the MAA Meritorious Service Award for 1998.
Response from Professor Kullman
In my thirty years as a member of the Ohio Section, I have
acquired many excellent teaching ideas and been stimulated
mathematically by numerous outstanding speakers and authors.
Most importantly, I have come to know many other
mathematicians as professional colleagues and personal friends.
Whatever service I have rendered to the Section and the
Association has been a small repayment for the countless benefits I
have received. I feel proud and deeply honored to be awarded this
Certificate of Meritorious Service, and I look forward to many
more years of active membership in the MAA.
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Marcellus Waddill, Southeastern Section
Citation
Professor Waddill has served the Southeastern Section well
for many years and in many capacities. He may hold the record for
continuous service on the Nominating Committee of five years,
chairing the committee for three of those five years. Marcellus also
chaired the Local Arrangements Committee for the Section's 1985
meeting at Wake Forest University. We all know Marcellus as a
constant supporter of the Section and a promoter of college-level
mathematics. He is a role model of the complete mathematician:
researcher, teacher, and outstanding supporter for our mathematical
community. He has always been ready and willing to assume any
task that needed doing. We congratulate Marcellus especially for
his outstanding work in the position of Southeastern Section
secretary-treasurer for six years, 1990-96.
For most of the history of our Section, the secretary-
treasurer was the one who did the real work to keep the Section
going. Chairs served for one-year terms and their principal task was
presiding at the annual meeting, which was the only business of the
Section. The secretary-treasurer put together the program,
coordinated with the local host, oversaw schedules and deadlines,
produced and distributed all meeting announcements, and
communicated with the national office. In addition, the secretary-
treasurer supervised the MAA table and book sales at the Section's
annual meeting, and maintained the finances of the Section. Further,
during Marcellus' tenure as our secretary-treasurer, the MAA
initiated many new activities. With each new activity, Marcellus'
job description expanded to include the necessary reports and other
communications between the Section, the MAA, and those in the
Section charged with implementing these projects.
Most other Sections long ago separated the task of
organizing the program from the job of secretary-treasurer. The
Southeastern Section is the largest of the MAA Sections, has the
largest and most complex meetings, but had not done so until
recently. For five of his six years as secretary-treasurer, Marcellus
served both duties, at a time in the history of the MAA and our
Section when both were truly major responsibilities. Marcellus
handled all these tasks with the same outstanding ability and grace
that he always shows. With the passage of our amended bylaws in
1997, our Section created the position of program chair, thus
providing Marcellus' successors with the relief that he did not
enjoy.
Those charged with the business of the Section, particularly
our Section chairs, have welcomed Marcellus' advice and assistance
many times in their work. They have always been impressed by
the quiet way he has of being helpful with a gentle touch. Through
it all, Marcellus has been the ultimate exemplar of integrity and
professional courtesy.
Therefore, we honor Marcellus Waddill, for doing so much,
for performing these tasks so well, and for being a long-time active
supporter of the Southeastern Section and a friend to all of our
members.
Response from Professor Waddill
It is a signal honor to have been selected by the
Southeastern Section and the Board of Governors of the MAA for
the 1999 Meritorious Service Award. I am genuinely grateful. My
immediate feelings are those of appreciation to the many
extraordinary individuals whom I have come to know in the MAA
during the past 37 years and particularly to those in the
Southeastern Section who have befriended and supported me
during these years, many of whom have served as marvelous role
models. If I have done something worthwhile for the MAA, it has
been a privilege and a pleasure as well as a tribute to the many who
have gone ahead to show the way. I name only three, the previous
winners of the Meritorious Service Award in the Southeastern
Section: Billy Bryant, Vanderbilt University; Ivey Gentry (1919-
1998), Wake Forest University, and John Neff, Georgia Tech. I
could have no better mentors than these men who helped me in
myriad ways, but, most importantly, they were (are) my friends.
Ivey Gentry is special because he hired me as a faculty member at
Wake Forest in 1962 and was my boss for 20 years in addition to
being my friend, supporter, leader, and teacher. When Ivey was
presented with the Meritorious Service Award in 1990 at the
meeting in Phoenix, he said, "My greatest honor in the Section was
when I was chosen to receive the Meritorious Service Award." I am
unable to improve that statement.
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