During 2009-2010, current NCSM President Diane Briars and I have made it our personal and professional priority to bring the equity and leadership issues of the PRIME Leadership Framework to different regions of North America. We will present fall leadership seminars on the Wednesdays before each of the three NCTM Regional meetings in Boston, Minneapolis and Nashville - and we hope you will join us as we explore together how to close the "Knowing-Doing" Gap in mathematics teaching and learning. We will also be presenting PRIME in Texas, California, New York, Virginia, and New Jersey during 2009-2010.

If you are reading this, then like me, your passion is to make a difference as you influence your colleagues toward instruction and assessment that really helps every child learn. As the Immediate Past President of NCSM, it is my hope that our great organization will help you fully realize your leadership potential with others. I always like to hear from our members and promise to respond to questions. Please don't hesitate to contact me at .

In 1983, I was all of 32 years old and NCSM Board member, Lee E. Yunker signed me up to join NCSM. At the time, I was a full-time math teacher and basketball coach and thought NCSM was for math department chairs and leaders like Lee. He reminded me that NCSM was really for everyone interested in improving mathematics education and that he thought I would be a leader someday. So, why not receive training now?

In 1984, I attended my first NCSM meeting in San Francisco. Growing up very poor on the south side of Chicago, that trip was my first ride on an airplane! At that meeting I sat at a table in the far back of the room during one of the "NCSM Luncheons" and could not have imagined that some day I would serve as NCSM President (25 years later!).

There are new leadership pressures today than back then-but the goals are the same: to provide access and equitable learning experiences for all children, to provide the opportunity to learn mathematics well, and to provide hope for future generations of students.

So, who taught me about all of this? Lee Yunker of course. He was my guide and my mentor. Lee died far too young-at age 53 in 1994. And one of our mutual friends, Jerry Cummins, and I made a commitment at Lee's funeral to dedicate the rest of our lives to the cause that was Lee's life: mathematics education leadership. Jerry served as NCSM President in 2000. And, in some ways, I think we both have fulfilled the legacy that Lee left in us. I wonder who that person is for you? Let them know if you can. And don't forget to mentor others. You just never know who the next President will be in 2035-25 years from now!