About the Authors

            Susan L. Forman is Professor of Mathematics at Bronx Community College, City University of New York (CUNY). While on extended leave from the College, she served as Senior Program Officer for Education at the Charles A. Dana Foundation (1995-1997) and as Director of College and University Programs for the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the National Academy of Sciences (1992-1995). Previously she served as Coordinator of Academic Computing at the City University of New York and Program Officer at the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).

            Forman has served as First Vice-President of the Mathematical Association of America (1992-1994); as Chair of the Association's New York Metropolitan Section (1997-1999); and as President of the New York State Mathematics Association of Two-Year Colleges (1985-1986). She received her doctorate in mathematics education and research from Columbia University.

            Lynn Arthur Steen is Professor of Mathematics and Senior Advisor to the Academic Vice President at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. He is the editor or author of many books on mathematics and education, the most recent being Why Numbers Count: Quantitative Literacy for Tomorrow's America(1997). Earlier volumes include On the Shoulders of Giants: New Approaches to Numeracy(1991), Everybody Counts(1989), and Calculus for a New Century(1988).

            Steen is a member of the Mathematics Advisory Committee of The College Board. Previously, he served as Executive Director of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board (1992-1995), President of the Mathematical Association of America (1985-1986), and Chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (1989). Steen received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

            Forman and Steen are coauthors of several publications dealing with the mathematical needs of the technical workforce, including "Mathematics for Work" (Bulletin of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction,December 1994); "How School Mathematics Can Prepare Students for Work, Not Just for College" (Harvard Education Letter,May/June 1995); "Mathematics for Work and Life'' (Seventy-Five Years of Progress: Prospects for School Mathematics,NCTM, 1995); and "Applied Academics: Myths and Realities" (Education Week,October 19, 1996).