Nancy Blachman founded the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival in 2007. As a student in middle and high school, Nancy enjoyed solving math problems with her father. She didn't enjoy the competitive atmosphere and time constraints of most math contests, but was intrigued and inspired by the qualifying problems of the yearly math contest sponsored by Saint Mary's College in Moraga, CA. As an adult, she found that the Saint Mary's Math Contest no longer existed, and connected with Joshua Zucker, a high school mathematics teacher, and Jim Sotiros, Director of Development at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) to create something to take its place and hopefully inspire students. She sought to offer non-competitive environment and problem sets
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Julia was also the first woman president of the American Mathematical Society. Nancy thought it fitting that the festival be named for a woman, reinforcing a message to girls that they are most welcome. Wildly popular, most festivals reach capacity and registration closes at least several days or a week in advance. To date, tens of thousands of students have been exposed to fun and interesting math problems. In 2016, 35 festivals were held; over 50 festivals around the world are planned for 2017. The Julia Robinson Mathematics Festivals attract students who might not otherwise pursue their interest in mathematics, providing them a social network and a place to explore, celebrate, and learn. The Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival is growing quickly with many new requests for festivals are received each week. (We respond to inquiries for festivalswe receive. Instead of marketing, we devote our time to developing activities, facilitator guides, and improving our website.)
Julia was also the first woman president of the American Mathematical Society. Nancy thought it fitting that the festival be named for a woman, reinforcing a message to girls that they are most welcome. Wildly popular, most festivals reach capacity and registration closes at least several days or a week in advance. To date, tens of thousands of students have been exposed to fun and interesting math problems. In 2016, 35 festivals were held; over 50 festivals around the world are planned for 2017. The Julia Robinson Mathematics Festivals attract students who might not otherwise pursue their interest in mathematics, providing them a social network and a place to explore, celebrate, and learn. The Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival is growing quickly with many new requests for festivals are received each week. (We respond to inquiries for festivalswe receive. Instead of marketing, we devote our time to developing activities, facilitator guides, and improving our website.)