Health. Although the funds are intended to be spent primarily for stipends to graduate students, they also may be used to add additional staff members, for supplies, travel, and equipment. The program recently has been extended to include mathematical biology. The number of departments receiving institutional support is increasing. The NIH has also been concerned with ways of training persons who will become the leaders of the future. A program is now being developed which will provide "internships" for outstanding mathematicians and statisticians at NIH. It is hoped that those who receive the "internships" will develop new ideas and also new methods and new applications of mathematics and mathematical statistics in new theory and methodology. Dr. C. Russell Phelps Program Director for Academic Year Institutes Dr. Phelps reported that he detects in the current political climate a change in the philosophy of the nation, for it appears that education will become an instrument of national policy in the international program of the United States. This development may bring an additional load and additional problems for mathematics. The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences can render an important service by collecting information about manpower requirements and needs of all kinds. The various agencies of the Federal Government in Washington need information, help, and recommendations from the mathematicians about their subject. Because mathematics differs in many important respects from the other fields of science, only the mathematicians can give the help and advice that is needed. The National Science Foundation now provides a large share of all fellowships for mathematics. Problems in the NSF fellowship program to which mathematicians might address themselves include (a) what are the distinctions between fellowships and research projects; (b) is the fellowship support of mathematics graduate students sufficient and at the right time; and (c) are we prepared to provide adequate support in the next few years for greatly increased numbers of graduate students, whether through fellowships, research projects, or teaching assistantships. There are important problems concerned with the improvement of the mathematics teaching staffs of the small colleges. It should be possible to develop programs which would provide still better opportunities for mathematics teachers in small colleges to bring their knowledge of mathematics up to date. One of the major programs of the National Science Foundation pro vides support for institutes. It is noteworthy that these institute funds are distributed almost equally over all categories of colleges and universities (large and small, graduate and undergraduate), whereas research funds are concentrated almost exclusively in the large universities. The Course Content Improvement Section of the National Science Foundation supports a number of major projects designed to improve courses in various fields of science and mathematics. These projects include the Physical Science Study Committee and the School Mathematics Study Group. Most of the projects are concentrated on the high school level, but some have provided sample textbooks for new courses for elementary school and others have worked on college courses--especially the CUP effort of the Mathematical Association. The National Science Foundation has recently inaugurated an undergraduate research program which is designed to provide support for undergraduates. This program provides a good example of a case in which mathematics is different from the other sciences. The program has not served the needs of mathematics because the mathematicians seem to have felt that there is no such thing as undergraduate research in mathematics. The National Science Foundation has provided a special program of research training in an effort to help mathematics, but almost no proposals have been received from the mathematicians. The research training program-"independent study"-does not provide financial support for the undergraduate student although the undergraduate research program does provide direct financial support to the student. The Foundation would be receptive to imaginative ideas from individual colleges or groups of mathematicians concerning ways in which support could be provided so that mathematics receives its fair share. Dr. Phelps suggested that the development of scholarship programs for undergraduates can be expected in the near future. NSF has the authority to award undergraduate scholarships, but it has never done so, in the belief that Federal scholarship aid should be not limited to mathematics and science. "How can scholarship help be used best for the benefit of mathematics?" he asked. There are many difficult problems involved in establishing an undergraduate scholarship program, and the mathematicians should follow the development of the program carefully and assist in every way possible so that the program finally established serves the best interests of mathematics. There is a great multiplicity of problems, and they create a need for belief that Federal scholarship aid should not be limited to mathematics and others in the field of education. There is need for a journal or newsletter to provide information about manpower problems and educational problems. The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences is well situated for providing the communication needed. Dr. Philip W. Hemily International Science Education Program Director National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation already has some international programs on an experimental basis. Since it is almost certain that these international programs will be expanded, it is in order to consider some of the problems that will result for mathematics. One important question that arises in connection with the international aspects of higher education is the following: what will be the effect of a great influx of students and faculty from abroad into our educational institutions? There are about 40,000 foreign students in the United States at the present time, and between 8,000 and 10,000 of them come from Latin America. The number of foreign students will almost certainly increase; some have proposed that the number be increased to 400,000. Students will come from Africa; some of those from Africa will be poorly prepared, and they will need lower undergraduate work. International programs involve research also. The International Cooperation Administration has tried some cooperative programs, and the most successful ones have been those with the most flexibility between institutions. Some of the research programs involve cooperation between one university in the United States and one university abroad. Training institute programs are becoming more research oriented. A number of these were supported last summer through NATO in Europe. Scholars from the Western community got together their best faculties and worked with students. In addition to learning subject matter, the students and scholars got acquainted with students and scholars from other countries in many cases for the first time. Regional programs have been the most successful ones. There have been special programs abroad which have dealt with edu cational problems. For example, a conference was held at Royaumont, France in the fall of 1959 to study mathematics education in the countries of Western Europe. The United States was represented by E. G. Begle, Howard F. Fehr, R. E. K. Rourke, M. H. Stone, and A. W. Tucker. An extensive report of this conference is being prepared and will be published. Professor Stone attended a similar conference in Yugoslavia in 1960, and he is planning an Inter-American Conference on Mathematical Education to be held in Bogotá, Colombia in December, 1961. An OEEC Seminar on "Mathematical Knowledge Required by the Physicist and Engineer" will be held in Lyons, France, in February, 1961. Three Americans have been nominated to attend this seminar. The course content improvement projects (such as School Mathematics Study Group, the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC), and the Chemical Bond Approach Project), supported by the National Science Foundation, have had significant influence abroad. There has been no effort to inform other countries about these projects, but they are becoming well known in certain parts of the world. Countries abroad have been tremendously impressed by the fact that university scientists have participated in these projects for the preparation of improved courses and textbooks for secondary schools, and the United States has gained much good will as a result. There is a demand from abroad for the materials produced by these projects. The Chemical Bond Approach Project's materials have been translated into Spanish, and they will be used abroad next year. The PSSC materials are being translated into Spanish and Portuguese; also, they have been used in Pakistan. The National Science Foundation has sponsored two experimental programs. The first brings scientists and mathematicians from abroad to observe and lecture at NSF summer institutes; the second brings secondary school teachers and administrators of science and mathematics as participants in NSF summer institutes. Regional organizations of countries pay a large part of the travel costs. The association of these visitors with our universities and with the new curriculum projects has had significant consequences. For example, there are plans now to hold teacher training institutes abroad, patterned after NSF institutes. NSF is receiving requests for staff to teach in these institutes; the problem is to find adequately trained staff who can speak the required languages. These institutes will use and teach the new programs developed in the United States. There may be some experimental programs in Africa. In India there are requests for faculty members to help in developing new curricula. The Organization of American States is making a real contribution by trying to foster interchange of scholars and to upgrade the curriculum. These are worthwhile foreign objectives for the United States in trying to satisfy the many requests from abroad. Mr. Gilbert Anderson Lecturers and Research Scholars Branch Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs The conduct of cultural relations has assumed greater importance in the field of foreign affairs. As an international leader, the United States has taken the initiative to bring the American people and the other peoples of the world closer together. One of the most effective means of facilitating exchanges of ideas between nations is to bring leaders, professional people, students, and artists into direct contact with each other. For this reason the U. S. Government and many nongovernmental organi zations in this country have developed international exchange-of-persons programs. Within the Department of State the increasing importance of cultural relations in foreign affairs was illustrated by the appointment of a Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for the Coordination of International Educational and Cultural Relations. On June 1, 1959, the Special Assistant took charge of the newly established Bureau of International Cultural Relations within which all of the Department's cultural and educational exchange programs were administered. On April 17, 1960, the Department of State reorganized its offices dealing with international educational and cultural activities. The reorganization consisted essentially of the establishment of a new Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to replace the Bureau of International Cultural Relations and the redistribution of responsibilities among several new elements within the Bureau. The new Bureau is under the direction of the Honorable Robert H. Thayer, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for the Coordination of International Educational and Cultural Relations. His Deputy is Mr. Saxton Bradford. Responsibilities for conducting the educational and cultural exchange programs, including overseas presentation of American performing artists, are now shared by two new elements: the Office of Educational Exchange and the Office of Cultural Exchange. There is an over-all plans staff for the two offices. Responsibilities for exchange programs with the Soviet Union and the other countries of the Soviet bloc have been transferred to the Soviet and Eastern European Exchanges Staff of the Bureau of European Affairs (formerly the East-West Contacts Staff), with the exception of those projects financed with Department of State funds. Several organizations are under contract to the Department of State to assist in the administration of programs. The list of these contract agencies includes the Institute of International Education for exchanges of foreign and American university students; the U. S. Office of Education in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare for exchanges of secondary and elementary school teachers; the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils for exchanges of university lecturers and research scholars. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is also responsible for the Secretariat of the U. S. National Commission for UNESCO. The Office of Educational Exchange is responsible for the following activities: consideration of educational exchange matters in the planning stages; advising on the establishment of exchange programs financed with Government funds; seeking to develop good relations with various groups and foundations concerned with exchange programs; giving assistance to American schools abroad; administration of the Exchange Visitor Visa Program; bringing to the United States hundreds of foreign leaders. |