The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) was founded by a small group of mathematicians from academia and industry who met in Philadelphia in 1951 to start an organization whose members would meet periodically to exchange ideas about the uses of mathematics in industry. This meeting led to the organization of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The membership of SIAM has grown from a few hundred in the early 1950s to more than 14,000 as of 2013. SIAM retains its North American influence, but it also has East Asian, Argentinian, Bulgarian, and UK & Ireland sections.
SIAM is one of the four parts of the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics.
Membership is open to both individuals and organizations.
The focus for the society is applied, computational and industrial mathematics, and the society often promotes its acronym as "Science and Industry Advance with Mathematics". It is composed of people from a wide variety of vocations. Members include engineers, scientists, industrial mathematicians, and academic mathematicians. The society is active in promoting the use of analysis and modeling in all settings. The society also strives to support and provide guidance to educational institutions wishing to promote applied mathematics.
The society includes a number of activity groups (SIAGs) to allow for more focused group discussions and collaborations.
SIAM publishes books, scholarly journals, and SIAM News, a newsletter focused on the applied math and computational science community (published ten times per year).
As of 2012, SIAM publishes 16 research journals:
SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics (SIAP), since 1966formerly Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, since 1953Theory of Probability and Its Applications (TVP), since 1956translation of Teoriya Veroyatnostei i ee PrimeneniyaSIAM Review (SIREV), since 1959SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization (SICON), since 1976formerly SIAM Journal on Control, since 1966formerly Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Series A: Control, since 1962SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis (SINUM), since 1966formerly Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Series B: Numerical Analysis, since 1964SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis (SIMA), since 1970SIAM Journal on Computing (SICOMP), since 1972SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications (SIMAX), since 1988formerly SIAM Journal on Algebraic and Discrete Methods, since 1980SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing (SISC), since 1993formerly SIAM Journal on Scientific and Statistical Computing, since 1980SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics (SIDMA), since 1988SIAM Journal on Optimization (SIOPT), since 1991SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems (SIADS), since 2002Multiscale Modeling and Simulation (MMS), since 2003SIAM Journal on Imaging Sciences (SIIMS), since 2008SIAM Journal on Financial Mathematics (SIFIN), since 2010SIAM/ASA Journal on Uncertainty Quantification (JUQ), since 2013SIAM publishes 20-25 books each year.
SIAM organizes conferences and meetings throughout the year focused on various topics in applied math and computational science.
The chief elected officer of SIAM is the president, elected for a single two-year term.
The following persons have been presidents of the society:
Prizes and recognition
SIAM recognizes applied mathematician and computational scientists for their contributions to the fields. Prizes include:
Germund Dahlquist Prize: Awarded to a young scientist (normally under 45) for original contributions to fields associated with Germund Dahlquist (numerical solution of differential equations and numerical methods for scientific computing).Ralph E. Kleinman Prize: Awarded for "outstanding research, or other contributions, that bridge the gap between mathematics and applications...Each prize may be given either for a single notable achievement or for a collection of such achievements."J.D. Crawford Prize: Awarded to "one individual for recent outstanding work on a topic in nonlinear science, as evidenced by a publication in English in a peer-reviewed journal within the four calendar years preceding the meeting at which the prize is awarded"Jürgen Moser Lecture: Awarded to "a person who has made distinguished contributions to nonlinear science".Richard C. DiPrima Prize: Awarded to "a young scientist who has done outstanding research in applied mathematics (defined as those topics covered by SIAM journals) and who has completed his/her doctoral dissertation and completed all other requirements for his/her doctorate during the period running from three years prior to the award date to one year prior to the award date".George Pólya Prize: "is given every two years, alternately in two categories: (1) for a notable application of combinatorial theory; (2) for a notable contribution in another area of interest to George Pólya such as approximation theory, complex analysis, number theory, orthogonal polynomials, probability theory, or mathematical discovery and learning."W.T. and Idalia Reid Prize: Awarded for research in and contributions to areas of differential equations and control theory.Theodore von Kármán Prize: Awarded for "notable application of mathematics to mechanics and/or the engineering sciences made during the five to ten years preceding the award".James H. Wilkinson Prize in Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing: Awarded for "research in, or other contributions to, numerical analysis and scientific computing during the six years preceding the award".In 2009 SIAM instituted a Fellows program to recognize certain members who have made outstanding contributions to the fields SIAM servesFunded by The Moody's Foundation and organized by SIAM, the Moody's Mega Math Challenge is an applied mathematics modeling competition for high school students along the entire East Coast, from Maine through Florida. Scholarship prizes total $100,000.
SIAM Undergraduate Research OnlinePublishes outstanding undergraduate research in applied and computational mathematics
Student memberships are generally discounted or freeSIAM has career and job resources for students and other applied mathematicians and computational scientists