The Executive Committee of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) joins our colleagues around the world in sadness and alarm at the events unfolding in Ukraine. Our thoughts and hearts are with our families, friends, and colleagues in the region and those around the world impacted by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We mourn the fact that the most profound effects will be felt not by the leaders who have chosen conflict, but by their citizens who long for peace.
The 2022 International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) and convening of the International Mathematics Union (IMU) General Assembly was scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia in July 2022. We support the actions of the IMU on 26 February 2022 in condemning the actions of Russia and shifting the main ICM convening to a fully virtual event. This action prioritizes the safety and security of attendees while still providing an important opportunity for ICM members to share their scholarly work. We further recognize the IMU’s actions in making the virtual event free of charge and arranging for an in-person meeting of the General Assembly to take place outside of Russia.
CBMS acknowledges the actions of national mathematical societies around the world for issuing strong statements that urged the IMU not to hold the convening in Russia and advocating for an alternative ICM plan. We note that those societies’ actions embody the commitment expressed in the CBMS Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Mathematical Sciences to “utilize the tools of our fields to investigate, document, and communicate injustice and create pathways to many opportunities.”