NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committees responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the author according to procedures approved by a report review committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. The Council functions in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy under the authority given to it in 1863 by its congressional charter, which established the Academy as a private, nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The Council is the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. It is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

The Mathematical Sciences Education Board was established in 1985 to provide a continuing national overview and assessment capability for mathematics education and is concerned with excellence in mathematical sciences education for all students at all levels. The board reports directly to the Governing Board of the National Research Council.

The National Research Council created the Board on Mathematical Sciences in 1984. The objectives of the board are to maintain awareness and active concern for the health of the mathematical sciences and to serve as the focal point of the Research Council for the issues connected with research in the mathematical sciences. Designed to conduct studies for federal agencies and to maintain liaison with the mathematical sciences communities, the board is part of the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications.

The Committee on the Mathematical Sciences in the Year 2000, which was appointed at the beginning of 1988, is a three-year joint project of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board and the Board on Mathematical Sciences. Its purpose is to provide a national agenda for revitalizing mathematical sciences education in U.S. colleges and universities.

Support for this project and for the publication and dissemination of the report was provided by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency with additional support from the Department of Education and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Cover photograph reprinted courtesy of the University of Maryland and with permission from John Consoli, photographer. Copyright © 1989 by John Consoli.

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Summaries of this report may be obtained from the Mathematical Sciences Education Board, 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Harris 476, Washington, D.C. 20418.