Louise Hay Award

1991 Winner: Shirley M. Frye

Citation (delivered by Rhonda Hughes, Bryn Mawr College):

It is an honor for me to present the first annual Louise Hay Award for Contributions to Mathematics Education.

In August of 1990, the AWM Executive Committee passed a resolution establishing the award, and stating that “while Louise Hay was widely known for her contributions to mathematical logic and her strong leadership as Head of the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, her devotion to students and her lifelong commitment to nurturing the talent of young women and men secure her reputation as the consummate educator. The annual presentation of this award is intended to highlight the importance of mathematics education and evoke the memory of all that Hay exemplified as a teacher, scholar, administrator, and human being.”

The Award Committee, consisting of Sylvia Bozeman, Chair, Spellman College, and Mary Ellen Rudin, UW Madison, and myself, considered many distinguished candidates, from classroom teachers, to authors of educational materials for children, to university administrators. Once we decided that the first award would recognize the tremendous, national effort to improve mathematics education in the schools, our task was easy. It gives me great pleasure to present the first Louise Hay Award for Contributions in Mathematics Education to Shirley M. Frye.

Shirley Frye received her B.A. from Thiel College and a master’s degree from Arizona State University. She has been a classroom teacher for more than twenty years and served as director of curriculum and instruction, grades K-12, for the Scottsdale, Arizona, school district. She is a contributing author to An In-Service Handbook for Mathematics Education and Professional Development of Teachers of Mathematics and has written numerous articles on mathematics education.

She also served on the NCTM Commission on Standards for School Mathematics. Among her many honors are: Thiel College Distinguished Alumnus Award, Scottsdale Arizona Teaching Award, Phi Delta Kappa Award for Teaching, and the Glen Gilbert Award of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics. As President of the NCTM 1988-1989, Shirley Frye gave strong leadership and boundless energy to the introduction of the NCTM Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics to the nation.
For these impressive and invaluable achievements, the Association for Women in Mathematics honors Shirley M. Frye with the first Louise Hay Award for Contributions to Mathematics Education.

Shirley M. Frye’ s Acceptance Remarks:

Thank you for this very special award. I am reminded about what Leo Buscaglia said in his book Bus 9 to Paradise. His view is that there is no need to seek paradise in the distant future. We find paradise in our work and in the people with whom we share our lives and work. Truly I am and have been on that Bus 9 to Paradise!

It has been my good fortune to be a representative of mathematics educators during these exciting years of reformation and new direction. Most importantly the emphasis of this time is to challenge and support women to be all they can and want to be.

I accept this honor believing that it recognizes all teachers of mathematics everywhere. I treasure your commendation in the name of Louise Hay, a renowned and beloved teacher, who had a lifelong commitment to nurturing the talent of women.

Thank you very much