NAM member Terrence Blackman joined fellow mathematicians on Capitol Hill to advocate for increased federal funding for mathematics education. Representing New York, Blackman engaged with key congressional staff, highlighting the vital role of math in advancing national STEM initiatives.
Last week, seven mathematicians went to Washington, DC, to visit their states’ delegations on Capitol Hill: an experience not unlike the first day of high school.
Armed with tight schedules to follow in a labyrinth of unfamiliar buildings, they set out in small teams, roaming the busy, noisy, marble halls of Congress. The goal: to advocate for funding for mathematics education, representing the American Mathematical Society (AMS), with the staff of their elected officials.
First-time Hill visitors were paired with helpful “upperclassmen,” mathematicians who had paid Hill visits before. The AMS Office of Government Relations (OGR) served as guidance counselors, providing orientation in advance and direction during the Hill visit day, as well as handouts for the congressional staffers.
In total, 18 congressional offices representing six states received AMS visitors: 12 senators and six representatives.
“I am very grateful that so many congressional offices made time to speak with representatives from the AMS,” said AMS CEO John Meier. “Mathematics is beautiful and of great importance to the nation, and I think we did a very good job of highlighting in particular the impact of federal funding on advancing the mathematical sciences.”
Before the visits, “I was unsure about the impact and importance,” said Sara Maloni, University of Virginia mathematics professor. “It was really great to do it, both to be able to explain how the money we receive from the NSF is used, tell stories about mathematics and mathematicians, but also to understand better how decisions are made.”
Karen Saxe, senior vice president, AMS OGR, said, “These visits are so important for mathematicians to do. Both because they learn how legislation is made, and also so that legislators hear from us about exciting projects that students and faculty are doing in their districts and states.
“Perhaps due to AI and quantum science, we see more and more legislative staff interested in mathematics and its role in these areas.”
At most, an individual Capitol Hill office visit lasts a half-hour. In contrast, prep for the AMS-hosted Hill visits began weeks beforehand with an orientation meeting via Zoom for the participants, most of whom are members of the AMS Committee on Education (CoE).
Tyler Kloefkorn, associate vice president, AMS OGR, explained that meetings would be taken not by the elected official but by staffers, whose job it is to take notes, ask follow-up questions, and brief their legislator about the meeting.
The visit format is somewhat scripted, with the constituent and nonconstituent mathematician in each pair assigned a role.
After introductions, the nonconstituent mathematician briefly describes the AMS to the congressional staffer and sets up the purpose of the visit: to discuss the importance of mathematical sciences education.
Then, the constituent mathematician makes the “ask”: in this case, strong NSF appropriations for fiscal year 2025, especially in STEM education. An optional ask, Kloefkorn noted, would be for support of the Math/Stats Modeling Education Act. Finally, the constituent shares evidence of the impact of government-funded math programs in the district or state of the staffer.
“Attendees must emphasize a connection to district or state,” Kloefkorn said. “Attendees must have clear talking points and asks: ‘We are here to talk about the importance of mathematical sciences education and ways that Congress can support students, educators, and the workforce.”’
In advance, the prospective Hill visitors researched the legislative staffers’ backgrounds and their bosses’ committee assignments, priorities, and general interests. They read the AMS one-pager on National Science Foundation (NSF) appropriations and prepared stories about programs funded by the NSF, to inform the congressional staffer.
The night before the Hill visits, the AMS OGR hosted a dinner meeting with a PowerPoint review of the steps each group would take the next day, right down to maps of congressional buildings and a review of the Byzantine numbering system of the Capitol offices.
Allow extra time to get through security, the group learned. Also, do not mention campaign support or elections. And for speedy transit, wear sneakers between meetings.
On a September morning of intermittent rain, the mathematicians walked up to Capitol Hill. They split up into smaller groups to cover their schedules, accompanied by OGR staff when available.
Maloni and Boris Hasselblatt (AMS Secretary and Tufts University professor) had six meetings scheduled, with the offices of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey and Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Rep. Bob Good from Virginia.
Christine Berkesch (professor at University of Minnesota Twin Cities) made her Hill debut paired with Terrence Blackman (professor and former dean of the School of Science, Health, and Technology at Medgar Evers College, City University of New York). They met with the staffs of New York Sens. Charles Schumer—the Senate Majority Leader—and Kirsten Gillibrand as well as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries; plus Minnesota Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Betty McCollum.
Professors Ravi Vakil (Stanford University) and Jesús De Loera (University of California, Davis) covered California: Reps. Mike Thompson and Anna Eshoo in the morning, Sens. Laphonza Butler and Alex Padilla in the afternoon.
AMS CEO John Meier represented Rhode Island and the AMS headquarters in meetings with the staffs of Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse. “They are not only supportive of mathematics, they are also delighted that the AMS is based in Providence, Rhode Island,” Meier said.
“The engagement of the staffers with us was impressive given the number of such meetings they must be taking,” Hasselblatt said. “Although we all had to mind the available time, their focus on the conversation and us was exemplary.”
“I was surprised how many young people are involved in this job, how many interns,” Maloni said. Most have a political-science background, although “I’m a STEM kid,” said Sharif Long, legislative correspondent to Rep. Pressley. And Chris Mirabella in Sen. Smith’s office asked Berkesch and Blackman an actual math question: “What was Fermat thinking?”
The mathematicians delivered folders that contained a one-sheet explainer about NSF appropriations, a one-sheet about the AMS, math posters, and the 2025 AMS Calendar of Mathematical Imagery.
“Of course, I brought homework,” Blackman said to Senate staffer Alex Hsi, producing a foldable 3-D puzzle with the faces of mathematicians.
“Chuck Schumer always does his homework,” Hsi responded.
The halls of Congress bustle with interest groups, often in matching attire. OGR’s training came in handy, even for those with Hill experience, such as Hasselblatt, on his third round of Hill visits.
“Navigating the various buildings when there was little time between meetings took a little advance planning, and keeping the conversations with the staffers to the right length takes some concentration and the right improvisation or restraint depending on the direction in which time runs, long or short,” he said.
There was one legislator sighting in an office: Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey appeared and exchanged pleasantries as Hasselblatt and Maloni were leaving their meeting with his staffer, Karina Bravo. “I said that we’d shaken hands when he received an honorary doctorate from Tufts, and he said that he loves Tufts,” Hasselblatt said.
With a short lunch break in the Senate’s Dirksen Cafeteria, where an observant few spotted New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, the Capitol Hill visits made for a long day of walking and talking.
“I was able to discuss the value of mathematics and STEM education, while requesting strong appropriations for the NSF next year,” Berkesch said. “In these meetings, I stressed the importance of programs like the NSF GRFP and shared personal stories of the impact of NSF funding within my own department and university. This was both fun and gratifying work, thanks to the interest the staffers showed in mathematics and the excellent prep I received from AMS staff.”
Saxe said, “I love seeing mathematicians do this for the first time—to see them develop their stories over the day. This year watching Sara Maloni and Jesús De Loera make Hill visits for the first time was most gratifying; they were both terrific at delivering our message and making personal connections to the offices they visited.”
“My main takeaway is be focused and prepared enough: Know your representative,” De Loera said.
“I learned that Rep. Good’s office’s primary interest in education is around school choice, and I am wondering what we can do to engage in the conversation,” Maloni said. She added that she would return to the Hill and hopes that more colleagues will make Hill visits.
De Loera concurs. “Only by speaking out we will be heard,” he said. “We need allies and coalitions, with other organizations. Strength in numbers.”
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This article was originally published on the American Mathematical Society's website on December 31, 2024. It is reprinted here with permission. The content remains unchanged except for formatting adjustments for this website.
Citation: First published in Notices Amer. Math. Soc. 72 (January 2025), published by the American Mathematical Society. ©2025 American Mathematical Society.
