The Executive Committee of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction has decided to create two awards in mathematics education research, at its annual meeting in 2000 :
These awards will consist of a certificate and a medal, and they will be accompanied by a citation. They should have a character similar to that of a university honorary degree, and they shall be given in each odd numbered year. At each ICME, the medals and certificates of the awards given after the previous ICME will be presented at the Opening Ceremony.
The first recipients of the Freudenthal and Klein awards, will be known by the end of the year 2003. These awards will be formally presented at the opening ceremonies of ICME 10 in Copenhagen.
An Award Committee (AC) of six persons shall select the awardees. Members of the AC are appointed by the President of ICMI, after consultation with the Executive Committee and with other scholars in the field. The terms of appointment is for 8 years and non-renewable, with three of the members being replaced each four years, at the time of the ICME's. One of the three continuing members shall then also be named as committee chair. To initiate the process, a committee of 6 has been appointed in 2002, three of them with 8-year terms, the other three with 4-year terms. Michele Artigue, professor at the university Paris 7 in France, and one of the vice-presidents of ICMI has accepted the task of chairing the first Award Committee, with a term of 4-years. The active members of the AC, except for its chair, shall not made be known. Only at the time when the terms of committee members expire shall their names be made public.
The AC, once appointed, is completely autonomous. Its work and records are kept internal and confidential, except for the obvious process of soliciting advice and information from the professional community, which should be done by the committee chair. The committee has full authority to select the awardees. Its decision is final. Once made, that decision is to be reported, in confidence, to the ICMI-EC, via the President of ICMI.
The AC is open to suggestions as regard future awardees. All such suggestions, which have to be carefully supported, must be sent by ordinary mail to the chair of the Committee, by the end of June 2003 (see the adress below).
Michèle Artigue, Chair of the ICMI Awards Committee
Address : IREM, Université Paris 7, Case 7018