John Ewing ’66 leads the American Mathematical Society (AMS) as executive director of the group that represents 30,000 research mathematicians. He represents mathematics research and education with federal policymakers, organizing a number of meetings and conferences each year. He also coordinates employment and professional services for the mathematics community and oversees AMS publishing.  With nine scholarly journals, more than 100 new books each year and 2,500 titles in print, plus electronic publishing and Internet services, this one area alone could consume John’s time as he develops ways to share contemporary mathematical research.

Prof. Ewing brings personal experience as a college professor to his post; he spent 22 years as a faculty member at Indiana University. He’s received many awards, including  the George Polya Prize for expository writing from the Mathematics Association of America and an honorary doctorate in science from St. Lawrence, “which has meant a great deal, coming from a liberal arts institution like St. Lawrence,” he says. He serves as editor-in-chief of American Mathematical Monthly and is editor of two books: A Century of Mathematics: Through the Eyes of the Monthly and Towards Excellence: Leading a Mathematical Department in the 21st Century.

John earned his B.S. in mathematics from St. Lawrence and the M.S., and Ph.D. degrees at Brown University.