About the Fund

September 2020 marked the close of the incredible 25+ year career of SIAM Executive Director James (Jim) Crowley. In honor of Jim’s immense service and impact on SIAM and the larger applied mathematics community, the SIAM Board of Trustees (previously led by Board Chair Margot Gerritsen, Stanford University) and Council (previously led by SIAM President Lisa Fauci, Tulane University) have established the James Crowley Fund for Student Support.

This fund benefits students around the globe by supporting the Graduate Student Mathematical Modeling Camp and Mathematical Problems in Industry Workshop, SIAM student chapters, SIAM career fairs, student prizes, scholarship opportunities, new student programming, and more.

SIAM also founded its esteemed Fellows Program under Jim’s domain. The program, which commenced in 2009, has recognized a total of 535 members as SIAM fellows. Of exceptional note is the exponential growth of SIAM student chapters—from nine to 195—in the last 20 years.

Under Jim’s 25+ year leadership, SIAM increased its focus on student awareness and success in STEM-related careers by igniting interest in these fields and offering students a platform to share their research and work. SIAM has donated $420,000+ to student chapters since 2012, and now provides $250,000+ in student travel awards annually to enable students to attend SIAM conferences, where they can participate in panels, poster sessions, and more. Support from the community has helped SIAM create special programs, like the Gene Golub SIAM Summer School, created in 2010 by an individual endowment and funding an annual school for graduate students in mathematical sciences. With a focus on the education pipeline, SIAM has invested in educational math modeling resources for K-12 educators, and organizes MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge, a free math modeling competition supported by MathWorks for high school juniors and seniors and sixth form students. We are very excited to continue building upon these important initiatives through the Crowley Fund.

“It is tremendously touching to have this student fund designated in my name,” said Jim. “SIAM has been an immense part of my life for more than 30 years. I have spent the better part of my career dedicated to growing the membership and critical programs of the organization, and more widely working to grow interest and awareness of applied mathematics and computational science to policymakers and the general public. Students are at the core of SIAM. This fund is truly an honor.”

Please consider honoring Jim’s remarkable career by donating to the James Crowley Fund for Student Support.

On behalf of Jim, the SIAM Board of Trustees, and our entire membership, thank you for your support and continued association.

"Jim cares deeply about education and providing a community and support for the future generation of applied mathematicians and industrial leaders, and through this fund, SIAM will be able to continue leading efforts in this area in his honor.”

Margot Gerritsen Former Chair of Board of Trustees, SIAM