Williams named editor-elect of Mathematics Magazine

Gordan Williams holding a paper orb
UAF photo
Gordon Williams, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, holds a geometric sculpture based on modifying the rhombic triacontahedron.

UAF Mathematics Professor Gordon Williams has been selected as the editor-elect for the prestigious Mathematics Magazine, one of the flagship publications of the Mathematical Association of America. His term as editor-elect will begin in January 2024.

Williams will become editor-in-chief for the magazine in 2025 and serve a five-year term, which will include the 100th anniversary of the magazine.

Mathematics Magazine is an international, peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles meant to appeal to a broad mathematical audience that includes strong undergraduates. Topics cover a wide range of mathematical concepts that include original mathematics, historical content, and connections among mathematics and other disciplines.

He is excited for the role and the benefits it will bring to UAF students. In addition to journal articles, Mathematics Magazine also accepts a limited number of puzzles, “Proofs Without Words” and other miscellanea.

“When you are a researcher, your focus gets narrower and narrower,” Williams said. “This will reacquaint me with a bunch of interesting stuff in mathematics and provide a new awareness of what can be done to support UAF students, from techniques that can be brought back into the classroom to topics for future master’s degree projects.”

By building connections with other mathematicians and programs Williams hopes to “Increase recruitment possibilities and raise exposure of the department.”