2002 – Richard L. Poss
Professor Richard L. Poss of Saint Norbert College was awarded the MacDuffee award for long and outstanding service to Pi Mu Epsilon during MathFest 2002 at Burlington, Vermont. Rick, as he is known to all, has been the Advisor to the Wisconsin Delta Chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon since its inception in 1985, and has hosted the Saint Norbert Regional Conference of Pi Mu Epsilon for the past 17 years. He is well known nationally for having personally driven students to every National Meeting since 1985, providing more than 50 Saint Norbert students with a mathematical experience they will cherish for a lifetime. These journeys have included trips as far away as Los Angeles, Vancouver, Atlanta, and Maine.
Rick has also been a driving force at the national level of Pi Mu Epsilon. He became a National Councillor in 1987, just two years after his school became a Chapter. He served in that capacity for one term when an Editor was needed for the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal. Although he had little publication experience at that time, he has never been one to shy from a demanding task. Under his editorship, the Journal expanded and was transformed electronically to being set in TeX.
In 1993, at the end of his term as Journal Editor, Rick was elected President-Elect of Pi Mu Epsilon, and became President in 1996. During his period as President, Rick was instrumental in developing close working relationships with other professional mathematical organizations such as the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of American. One important consequence of this is that Rick was appointed to the MAA Committee on Student Activities, served in this capacity while he was President and Past-President, and his work was so well respected that the MAA has now made the Past-President of Pi Mu Epsilon a standing member of this committee. It is indeed a pleasure to present the MacDuffee award to Rick Poss, who has done so much for Pi Mu Epsilon and the students who are affiliated with the Society.