Former MAA Executive Director "A.B." Willcox Has Died

Former MAA Executive Director Alfred B. Willcox has died at age 81 of complications of pneumonia.  There will be a memorial service at Ashlar Village, in Wallingford, Conn., on June 1, 2007, at 10:00 a.m.

Affectionately known as "A.B.," Willcox taught at Amherst College, served as Executive Director of the Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics, and in 1968 became MAA's second Executive Director.

Announcing his retirement in FOCUS in June 1989, when the MAA's membership stood at "27,500 members in good standing," Willcox said, "our operational base is strong, our programs thrive, and our confidence in the future strength of the Association is supreme.

"I have enjoyed and been rewarded and stimulated by twenty-one years as your Executive Director. As everyone over 60 knows, one pays a toll for so many years of sustained stimulation. I look forward to a change of focus . . . . Most of all I look forward to quite a few years of pleasure and pride as I watch the MAA prosper and grow in service to collegiate mathematics."

His change of focus included moving to Annapolis, Md., to take up sailing with his wife, Shirley.

"A.B." is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Shirley; his children Mark, David, Peter, and Daniel; and several grandchildren.

He'll be missed by all of us, both inside and outside the Association, who knew and loved him.

Washington Post Obituary May 29, 2007