IAS/Park City
Mathematics Institute
The IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute (PCMI) was founded in
1991 as part of the “Regional Geometry Institute” initiative of the
National Science Foundation. In mid-1993 the program found an in-
stitutional home at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Prince-
ton, New Jersey. The PCMI continues to hold summer programs in
Park City, Utah.
The IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute encourages both re-
search and education in mathematics and fosters interaction between
the two. The three-week summer institute offers programs for re-
searchers and postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, undergradu-
ate students, high school teachers, mathematics education research-
ers, and undergraduate faculty. One of PCMI’s main goals is to make
all of the participants aware of the total spectrum of activities that
occur in mathematics education and research: we wish to involve pro-
fessional mathematicians in education and to bring modern concepts
in mathematics to the attention of educators. To that end the sum-
mer institute features general sessions designed to encourage interac-
tion among the various groups. In-year activities at sites around the
country form an integral part of the High School Teacher Program.
Each summer a different topic is chosen as the focus of the Re-
search Program and Graduate Summer School. Activities in the Un-
dergraduate Program deal with this topic as well. Lecture notes from
the Graduate Summer School are published each year in the IAS/Park
City Mathematics Series. Course materials from the Undergraduate
Program, such as the current volume, are now being published as
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