Regulations Governing the Association's Award of The Chauvenet Prize

The Chauvenet Prize was established in 1925 by a gift from the MAA President J. L. Coolidge.

University of Miami, Florida, January 24, 1964

(Amended at Denver, Colorado, January 27, 1965, at San Francisco, California, January 24, 1968 at Cincinnati, Ohio, January 14, 1982, at Berkeley, California, August 2, 1986 and at New Orleans, Louisiana, January 5, 2011)

1. The Chauvenet Prize is to be awarded at the Annual Meeting in January of the Mathematical Association of America. The prize is to be $1000, together with a certificate, for a noteworthy expository or survey paper. The pool of eligible papers shall be limited to expository or survey articles published in North American journals, and also all chapters in anthologies published by the Association, such as the books in the Studies series. Preference should be given to papers that come within the range of profitable reading for members of the Association.

2. In case of joint authorship, the prize shall be divided equally, and each of the authors shall receive a certificate.

3. An individual may receive the Chauvenet Prize more than once, for different papers.

4. The prize may be given for a paper which has already been recognized by an Allendoerfer, Halmos-Ford or Pólya award.

5. Each year there shall be at most one award. No award shall be made if there is no suitable recipient.

6. The award is to be made for material published during the three calendar years beginning January 1 five years prior to the time of the award.

7. The recipient of the award is to be recommended by a standing Committee on the Chauvenet Prize to be appointed by the President of the Association. This Committee is to consist of four members having staggered, four-year terms. The recommendation of the Committee shall be confirmed by the Board of Governors. Former members of the committee are eligible for reappointment after an interim of four years, except that members appointed to fulfill an unexpired term of one year may be reappointed, immediately thereafter, for a full term.

8. The Selection Committee should make certain, by asking the advice of specialists in the field of the paper if necessary, that the paper recommended for the Chauvenet Prize is mathematically sound.