Abstract: The National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences, more commonly known as the Math Alliance, grew out of an earlier NSF Funded project, The Alliance for the Production of African American PhDs in the Mathematical Sciences. In 2006 this project transformed itself to have a national scope, and it has been growing steadily ever since. Now involving almost 1,300 faculty at approximately 400 U.S. campuses, it is considered to have had some impact on diversity in the Math Sciences professions. We will discuss the origins, growth, and successes of the Math Alliance, its current structure and programs, and ways faculty can participate. We’ll also discuss some new initiatives which could be particularly impactful at R1 campuses, like U. Alabama.

Bio: David Goldberg was born in Boston, and grew up in several different locations in the U.S. as well as spending two years abroad. He graduated from public high school, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, as well as its alternative sub-school, the Cambridge Pilot School. He attended Reed College in Portland, OR, and after taking some time off and working in an automotive brake factory in Boston, received a B.A. in Mathematics. After spending two years as a pension actuarial administrator, he decided to pursue a graduate degree. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 1991 under the direction of Rebecca Herb. He joined the faculty of Purdue in 1991 as a postdoctoral appointee, continued at Purdue as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, and was appointed as a tenure track Assistant Professor in 1994. He was awarded an NSF CAREER Grant in 1995. Goldberg’s research concerns representations of p-adic groups, and connections with algebraic number theory. He was the Graduate Chair in the Purdue Mathematics Department from January 2013 through June 2019, and for many years before that has been part of a group of faculty within the department working to address issues of underrepresentation. He was a contributing author to four successful Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) grants, serving as co-Project Director on one and Project Director on another. Through some coincidence with his research interests, he became familiar with the National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Science, more commonly known as the Math Alliance in 2007, and he joined as a mentor in 2009. In 2014, he guided the creation of a Math Alliance Graduate Program Group in the Purdue Mathematics Department.

He became the Executive Director of the Math Alliance in 2016, as it relocated its administrative home to Purdue. Under his leadership, the Alliance has grown in size and scope, and received the 2017 Programs that Make a Difference Award from the American Mathematical Society.