Indiana Section of the Mathematical Association of America
Distinguished Service Award

Citation to

Adam Coffman

In 1993 the Indiana Section of the Mathematical Association of America initiated the Indiana Section Distinguished Service Award. This award honors a member of the Section by acknowledging his or her extraordinary contributions to the Section and outstanding efforts consistent with the stated purposes of the Mathematical Association of America and the Indiana Section, namely, promoting the interests of, and in improving education in, the mathematical sciences in America, especially at the collegiate level.

Among many deserving Section members is the one that we honor this evening. Adam Coffman has compiled a record of service that would be hard to match in either breadth or depth. He has made significant service contributions at all levels: to his university, to the Indiana Section, and to the national and international mathematical communities.

On the Section level, Adam served two three-year terms as the Public Information Officer, and his contributions came at a time when his skills were especially valuable. The responsibilities of this office increased considerably with the Section's move to electronic formats in both communication with the membership and registration for meetings. As webmaster for the INMAA section page, Adam maintained extensive archival information while continually keeping the page updated with useful information such as upcoming meetings, committee membership, awards, and contest results. He set up the electronic meeting registration, compiled the abstracts from speakers, and worked with local contacts at host institutions on informational items such as parking and lodging. In addition, Adam has himself been a speaker at numerous meetings of the Section, being one of the most frequent presenters in recent years. Furthermore, he is one of the speakers on the Section's Outreach College Visitors Program.

Adam's record of service to his university is exemplary. In addition to his extensive committee service, he served as Acting Chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences while the Chair was on sabbatical. Further, his department chair recently wrote that as the long-term chair of our Professional Affairs Committee, Adam was instrumental in the success of two consecutive program reviews and is an essential contributor to a third taking place this spring. Beyond the university, but still at the local level, Adam is active in helping host school mathematics competitions, as a Science Fair judge, and frequently participating in Fort Wayne's Science Central events.

Moving on to the national and international levels, Adam has served as a referee for a variety of mathematics journals, including The College Mathematics Journal. A former editor of that journal praised the thoroughness and clarity of his reports. Additionally, Adam has reviewed some thirty-eight papers for Math Reviews. Finally, he has served the mathematical community through an NSF grant he was awarded by organizing the 3rd Midwest Workshop on Asymptotic Analysis in the fall of 2016.

It is especially timely for Adam to receive this award at the Tri-Section meeting as Adam's mathematical career has been in all three Sections: He earned his B.S. degree from the University of Michigan, his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago, and has since been at Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Andy Rich, Section Chair
Indiana Section of the MAA