Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute

Research
• Be the premiere collaborative research institution to catalyze advances in mathematics.
• Foster the next generation of leaders and develop new connections between mathematical fields.
• Inspire and nurture the next generation of mathematicians. In particular, be the premiere destination for postdocs and very advanced graduate students in the fields of the programs.
• Remove barriers to participation in mathematical sciences research.

Education
• Create awareness of the responsibility of professional mathematicians in the mathematics education of teachers and action on this issue.
• Lead the math community in building a more diverse generation of research mathematicians.
• Support undergraduate math education leading to mathematical sciences careers.

Public Outreach
• Present Mathematics as fun, beautiful, powerful, and actively exploring, not static.

Diversity
• Lead the math community in building a more diverse generation of research mathematicians.
• Serve as a role model for best practices in intentional inclusivity and promoting excellence in mathematical research.

Visibility
• Be globally known as the go to place for mathematical research

Raising resources
• Insure that the leadership and their successors are able to effectively attract resources to the Institute.
• Aim for an endowment level in excess of $125 million.

Research
• Bring junior and senior researchers together to focus on the most important developments in mathematics.
• Use the power of the semester-long program format to build networks and advance mathematics nationally and internationally.
• Develop methods to spread the creative openness of MSRI to the broader mathematical community.
• Provide superb mentoring opportunities for the intellectual and professional development of postdocs and very advanced graduate students.
• Work to be inclusive, encouraging the participation of women and under-represented minorities.

Education
• Convene groups that can effectuate change and improvement in math awareness and the performance of teachers and students.
• Be an anchor for the participation of the community of research mathematicians in diversity and pipeline issues.
• Support undergraduate math clubs, directed reading, and video lectures for undergraduates.
• Leverage the prestige of MSRI to legitimize activities through which professional mathematicians contribute their time and talents to mathematics education research.
• Maintain an agile ability to support excellent activities in K-12 math education as opportunities arise.

Public Outreach
• Use social media to reach both wide audiences and selected targets.
• Support public outreach activities with a focused organizational structure that would make the activities more visible and market them effectively.
• Embrace a broad framework connecting public outreach efforts with the arts (eg. artists in residence, celebrity engagements, competitions).
• Reach out to the broader scientific community, as well as the general public.
• Develop mathematicians' communication skills for communicating with the public.

Diversity
• Be an anchor for the participation of the community of research mathematicians in diversity and pipeline issues.
• Continue and expand on MSRI's pioneering role fostering diversity across the pipeline from K12 through Post PhD.
• Identify and address barriers and unconscious bias that reduce the participation of women and members of other under-represented groups in MSRI programs.

Visibility
• Tell the stories about magic of MSRI and the heroes who create it.
• Take the lead in developing a mathematical caucus in Congress.
• Get mathematicians in front of the public in bite-sized ways.
• Find public figures who will promote MSRI.
• Effectively harness MSRI's public outreach activity through branding.

Raising resources
• Build the advancement capacity in the board and the MSRI staff to achieve the fund-raising objectives of the institution.
• Dramatically expand the capacity of the MSRI network and community to support ambitious annual giving and endowment objectives.
• Establish strong math community support for the institution's approach and for the associated financial objectives.
• Raise annual giving and endowment funds at a rate of growth between 15-20% annually for the next 10 years.

MSRI is governed administratively by a Board of Trustees, that currently include both a Nobel Prize winner and a Breakthrough Prize winner. They oversee the Institute's strategy and assure its operational and financial welfare through the work of ten trustee committees.

The Board receives input from its Committee of Academic Sponsors (CAS) that represents over 100 of the leading mathematics research departments across the country.

A rotating committee of ten distinguished mathematicians has the responsibility for choosing and guiding our scientific programs. Since they serve only four-year terms — the committee's view of mathematics is constantly refreshed.

MSRI takes advantage of its close proximity to the University of California Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and collaborates nationally with organizations such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

MSRI is the world's premier center for collaborative research across the whole spectrum of the mathematical sciences.

MSRI is an acknowledged leader of activities for the public understanding of mathematics. These popular events include interviews with playwrights (Tom Stoppard, “Arcadia"; Michael Frayn, “Copenhagen"; David Auburn, “Proof"), musicians (Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Christopher Taylor) and public personalities (Funny Numbers with Steve Martin and Robin Williams, M*A*T*H with Alan Alda). These events are nationally distributed in a unique series of videos.

For over twenty-five years, MSRI has been one of the largest single projects of the Division of Mathematical Sciences of the National Science Foundation.

MSRI is the largest non-classified mathematics project of the National Security Agency, which supports the Institute as the best resource for strengthening the pool of mathematicians available to assist the government.

MSRI is one of the world's most sought-after and successful centers for postdoctoral training.

MSRI is the primary model for institutes in Canada, England, Russia, Korea, and Singapore.

MSRI's “VMath" archive of mathematical lectures in video is by far the world's largest. It contains talks by the majority of today's great mathematicians.

MSRI has hosted every Fields Medalist since the Institute was opened in 1982. (The Fields Medal is Mathematics' version of the Nobel Prize.)

MSRI is one of the few world centers involved in the entire spectrum of mathematical activity, with programs ranging from K–12 mathematics and public understanding of mathematics to the most advanced current research. MSRI leads the nation in the development of math circles for top tier students, as well as for students just learning to love and engage deeply in mathematics.

MSRI's physical plant, with its Simons Auditorium, over 40 offices, and striking views of San Francisco Bay, is one of the most desirable mathematics destinations in the world.

MSRI has the strongest program of outreach to minorities of any United States mathematics institute. Led by a committee of distinguished minority mathematicians, its successes range from the first Conference of African American Researchers in the Mathematical Sciences, to residential summer programs for under-represented undergraduates considering careers in research, to after-school math programs in impacted school districts, and to the highly successful series of workshops held at the SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Latinos and Native Americans in Science) national conference to raise the awareness of upcoming MSRI programs in a group that might not otherwise participate in these activities.

MSRI has become a magnet for private philanthropic support of mathematics, as witnessed by the successful completion in 2006 of a $12 million capital campaign to add a new wing to the building, and a $15 million endowment campaign in 2013. The endowment is currently $21 million.