EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At this moment, the U.S. enjoys a position of world leadership in the
mathematical sciences. But this position is fragile. It depends very
substantially on immigrants who had their mathematical training elsewhere and in
particular on the massive flow of experts from the former Communist bloc. The
latter, at least, will not continue because there is little talent left to drain
and even less new talent being trained.
Young Americans do not see careers in the mathematical sciences as
attractive. Funding for graduate study is scarce and ungenerous, especially
when compared to funding for other sciences and with what happens in Western
Europe. Further, it takes too long to obtain a doctorate because of the
distractions of excessive teaching. Students wrongly believe that jobs that
call for mathematical training are scarce and poorly paid. Weaknesses in K-12
mathematics education undermine the capabilities of the U.S. workforce.
Based on present trends, it is unlikely that the U.S. will be able to
maintain its world leadership in the mathematical sciences. It is, however,
essential for the U.S. to remain the world leader in critical subfields, and to
maintain enough strength in all subfields to be able to take full advantage of
mathematics developed elsewhere. Without remedial action by the universities
and National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. will not remain strong in
mathematics: there will not be enough excellent U.S.-trained mathematicians,
nor will it be practicable to import enough experts from elsewhere, to fill the
Nation’s needs.
Since the time of Pythagoras, mathematics has been one of the intellectual
pinnacles of civilization. Although many mathematicians develop their subject
as a purely logical structure, with no reference to the outside world, every
area of mathematics, however pure it appears, has important applications: good
pure mathematicians will always deserve support. For the benefit of the Nation
and of U.S. mathematics, however, there must be more effective interaction
between mathematicians and the users of mathematics. All participants in
mathematics must share the responsibility for improving this interaction.
Since the National Science Foundation's role is to support scientific
activities within universities, we recommend that it encourage programs that:
