We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague Janet Andersen, Professor of Mathematics at Hope College and Four-Year College Vice Chair of the Michigan Section, who was killed in an automobile accident on Thanksgiving Day, 2005. Darin Stephenson, Chair of Mathematics at Hope C, has written an eloquent obituary appearing on page 8. As head of the Program Committee, Janet brought new energy to the planning for the annual Spring meeting, and before she died had put together an exciting program. Her characteristic cheerfulness and efficiency will have a lasting impact on the Michigan Section.

After Janet’s death, Program Committee members Matthew Boelkins (GVSU) and Randy Pruim (Calvin C) agreed to oversee the final details of the spring program. Matt and Randy also agreed to act as Co-Four-Year College Vice Chairs for the remainder of Janet’s term. We are indebted to them for their willingness to step in so generously and effectively.

The main event in the Section each year is the Annual Meeting in the Spring. This year the meeting will take place at Calvin College in Grand Rapids on May 5 and 6. The traditional Friday evening banquet will be held at nearby Meijer Gardens. You can read about the details on page 1. [Also see www.michmaa.org/section2006]. The 2007 meeting will be held at UM-Dearborn.

One of the official duties and privileges of the Section Chair is to participate in the Upper Peninsula Regional Meeting of the Michigan Section. This year the meeting was held on the last weekend of September at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, and was beautifully organized by John Kiltinen. One of the other invited speakers was Tom Sibley, from St. John’s U in Minnesota. On Saturday morning, after an interesting talk on map coloring, Tom held a donut-coloring contest, complete with plain donuts from a local Marquette bakery and at least seven different pots of colored frosting. We made the front page of the Sunday Mining Journal.

I look forward to seeing you at Calvin in May!

John Fink, Chair