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Mathematics and the quantitative reasoning it entails is everywhere pervasive in society, embedded in the scientific and technological advances that are changing the way we live, from the financial industry and risk analysis in business to the stunning special effects based on computerized mathematical modeling in the entertainment industry. Math has a prominent yet largely invisible influence on our society. At the same time that the nation is requiring a growing work force capable of handling complex systems based on mathematical, computer, and statistical models, the culture that builds such a work force is sparse. As an example, the Pentagon wants to base acquisitions on an integrated system of vendor and purchaser interaction through repeated problem formulation, mathematical and statistical modeling, computer simulation, and assessment. This would change the way of doing business with the government and require a cultural understanding of the premises of modeling and simulation as well as a work force capable of its implementation. The problem of deficiencies in our present situation, and work force is well recognized. As a result, the entire spectrum of the mathematical sciences curriculum is being examined, from the university down through the public school systems. In West Virginia, the State Department of Education is embarking on Project MERIT, the Mathematics Education Reform Initiative for Teachers, targeted at mathematics curricular reform and teacher development. At West Virginia University, the Math Department has undertaken three initiatives to help address these national and state concerns. We have developed the Institute of Math Learning which will significantly enhance the learning environment at WVU and directly affect the mathematics education of West Virginia students so they can compete in the new technological age. With the Department of Statistics, we are now offering the Industrial Mathematics and Statistics Program to provide students with the necessary mathematical and statistical background for the understanding of modeling and simulation. One of the areas of emphasis in our graduate program is the Combinatorial Computing and Discrete Mathematics focus, a program jointly offered with Statistics and the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and designed to give the broad based background needed for advanced research in industry, government labs and other research organizations. The program was created in response to one of the most rapidly growing areas of research in applied mathematics, computer science, and operations research--discrete structures. MATHEMATICS PRIORITIES
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