Round of Applause: BU Mathematician Glenn Stevens Honored for High School Initiatives
American Mathematical Society’s Impact Prize bestowed for training students and teachers in math
Round of Applause: BU Mathematician Glenn Stevens Honored for High School Initiatives
American Mathematical Society’s Impact Prize bestowed for training students and teachers in math
Awardee
BU Affiliation
Professor of mathematics and statistics, College of Arts & Sciences; founder and director of the Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists (PROMYS) since 1989.
What is the honor you’ve received?
The 2026 Impact in Mathematics Teaching and Education Prize from the American
Mathematical Society (AMS).
Why did you receive the honor?
The citation reads, in part: “For 38 years, Professor Glenn H. Stevens has vastly enriched mathematics education nationally and even internationally through parallel summer programs for high school students and high school teachers, respectively known as PROMYS and PROMYS for Teachers.”
Why is it meaningful?
I am deeply honored to have been selected for this award. As a young student, I was blessed to have many inspiring teachers and mentors at all levels. I am eternally grateful to all of them. In my current role as teacher and professor, it is a great pleasure for me to work with so many energetic and talented students, both at Boston University and in PROMYS. I have been guided in all of this by the example of the late [Notre Dame and Ohio State] Professor Arnold Ross, whose early influence inspires me—and many other mathematicians—to this day. I am grateful to [mathematician] Al Cuoco, from whom I have learned so much about mathematics and the teaching of mathematics and whose gentle wisdom and sense of humor have played a
central role in our PROMYS for Teachers program. Finally, I thank the many friends and colleagues whose long-term support and collaboration have made PROMYS what it is today
What’s next?
Current goals are (1) to solidify the organizational structures of PROMYS, in order to (2)
extend the reach of the program to broader audiences at new sites within the United States and to new international venues. Padova, Italy; Montevideo, Uruguay; and Indonesia are already on the dock.