The International Mathematical Union was founded in its present form in 1951. The purpose of the Union is to promote international cooperation in mathematics, to support and assist the International Congress of Mathematicians and other international meetings and to encourage and support other international mathematical activities considered likely to contribute to the development of mathematical science throughout the world in any of its aspects , pure, applied, or education. IMU has two commissions, the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction and the Commission on Development and Exchange. The International Commission on the History of Mathematics is a joint commission with the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science.
The members of IMU are countries. At the moment IMU has 63 members.
The major event of the Union was the International Congress of Mathematicians 1998, held in Berlin, Germany, from August 18-27, 1999. In all, 3,346 mathematicians from 98 countries participated in the Congress together with an estimated number of 800 accompanying persons; 31 publishers were present. Under the auspices of the International Mathematical Union, the Congress was organized by the German Mathematical Society and supported by the Council (Präsidium) and the representatives of the mathematical institutions in Berlin. Initial financial support came from the Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie and from the Senat von Berlin. Other public and academic bodies, private corporations and foundations, individuals and mathematical institutes supported the Congress significantly as well.
The Opening Ceremony took place in the the International Congress Center (ICC) of Berlin, in the morning of August 18. The President of the International Mathematical Union, Prof.David Mumford, declared the Congress open and announced the members of the Program Committee, responsible for the scientific program of the Congress: Phillip Griffiths (Chairman), Luis Caffarelli, Ingrid Daubechies, Gerd Faltings, Hans Föllmer, Michio Jimbo, John Milnor, Sergei Novikov, and Jacques Tits. Prof. Martin Groetschel was elected President of the Congress and Prof. Friedrich Hirzebruch was elected Honorary President. Welcome addresses were given.
The Chairman of the Fields Medals Committee. Prof. Yuri Manin, announced the recipients of the Fields Medals: Richard Borcherds, William Timothy Gowers, Maxim Kontsevich, Curtis McMullen. A special tribute of the Executive Committee of the IMU was awarded to Andrew Wiles. The Chairman of the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize Committee, David Mumford , announced Peter Schor as the recipient of the prize. The Fields Medal Committee consisted of Prof. Yuri Manin (Chairman), John Ball, John Coates, J.J. Duistermaat, Michael Freedman, Jürg Fröhlich, Robert MacPherson, Kyoji Saito, and Steve Smale and the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize Committee consisted of Prof. David Mumford (Chairman), Bjorn Engquist, Tom Leighton, and Alexander Razborov. Both committees arrived at their decisions in early 1998.
At the Closing Ceremony in the afternoon of August 27, Prof. David Mumford announced the new members of IMU Executive Committee and of ICMI, CDE and ICHM for the term 1999-2002 (listed below) and the site or ICM2002, as decided by the General Assembly in Dresden. Prof. Chang invited the mathematicians of the world to meet in Beijing in 2002.
The social events included a buffet lunch after the opening ceremony, an opera performance of the Magic Flute in the Deutsche Opera on August 23, and an ICM party on August 26. To convey some of the many facets of Berlin to the ICM'98 participants, and in particular to accompanying persons, many Berlin mathematicians, their friends and spouses offered informal tours, so called footloose tours, to points of special interest in Berlin. About 1,200 ICM'98 members and accompanying persons participated in these tours.
The General Assembly of IMU, on its 13th meeting that took place in Dresden, Germany, from 15-16 August, 1998, elected the following IMU Executive Committee for the term 1999-2002:
| President: | J. Palis | (Brazil) | ||
| Vice-Presidents: | S.Donaldson S. Mori | (United Kingdom) (Japan) |
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| Secretary: | P. Griffiths | (USA) | ||
| Members: | V. Arnold J.M.Bismut B.Engquist M. Groetschel M. Raghunathan | (Russia) (France) (Sweden) (Germany) (India) |
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| ex-officio: | D. Mumford | (Past President) |
The General Assembly of IMU, on its 13th meeting that took place in Dresden, Germany, from August 15-16, 1998, elected the following CDE Committee for the Term 1999-2002:
| President: | Hyman Bass | (USA) |
| Vice-Presidents: | M. Artigue N.Aguilera | (France) (Argentina) |
| Secretary: | B. Hodgson | (Canada) |
| Members: | G. Leder Y. Namikawa I. Scharygin J.P. Wang | (Australia) (Japan) (Russia) (China) |
| ex-officio: | Miguel de Guzman Jacob Palis P. Griffiths | (Past President) (President of IMU) (Secretary of IMU) |