For more information, contact:
Michael Breen or Annette Emerson, AMS Public Awareness Officers
Email: paoffice@ams.org
Telephone: 401-455-4000
Fax: 401-331-3842

January 16, 2003

PROVIDENCE, RI---Robert Osserman, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University and Special Projects Director at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, is receiving the 2003 JPBM Communications Award. Presented annually by the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM), the Communications Award is intended to recognize and encourage journalists and other communicators who, on a sustained basis, bring accurate mathematical information to nonmathematical audiences. The award will be presented today at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore, Maryland.

For many years, Robert Osserman has been an erudite spokesman for mathematics, communicating its charm and excitement to thousands of people from all walks of life. His slim volume Poetry of the Universe (Anchor Books, 1996), which has appeared in more than ten languages, introduced readers to the inherent beauty and power of mathematical thinking. He has also communicated with the public in a more unconventional style, through public events featuring conversations with playwrights and writers, from Tom Stoppard to Steve Martin. Osserman has helped to make mathematics part of our modern culture.

Further information about AMS prizes may be found at http://www.ams.org/prizes-awards.

The Joint Policy Board for Mathematics is a collaborative effort of the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The board provides a foundation for high-level cooperation on numerous issues facing the mathematical community today.

Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, the 30,000-member American Mathematical Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life.