History

The Indonesian Mathematical Society (IndoMS) was established in May 2014 with approximately 1,235 members and around 1,600 active participants as of January 2015. These included educators, mathematicians, statisticians, and mathematics teachers from 30 state and private universities, as well as school and madrasa teachers at elementary, middle, and high school levels. Prof. Dr. Lee Peng Yee from the National University of Singapore (NUS), who was working at the National Institute of Education (NIE) at that time, served as the catalyst for the first National Mathematics Conference in Indonesia. In 1973, he visited ITB Bandung and suggested the idea of a gathering for mathematicians to Prof. Dr. A. Arifin (may God bless him). Later, he also visited Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya. In Surabaya at that time, there was an organization named "the learning mathematics group" founded by mathematicians, educators, doctors, and anyone interested in mathematics. They began holding monthly meetings and named their organization "Himpunan Peminat Matematika" (HPm), with Prof. Drs. Slamet Dajono (may God bless him), a math professor at IKIP Surabaya at the time, as its founder.

Prof. Dr. Lee Peng Yee's enthusiasm for holding conferences among mathematicians in Indonesia and the regular activities of HPm paved the way for the first National Mathematics Conference and the first Southeast Asian Mathematical Society (SEAMS) conference to be held in Bandung, ITB in 1976. Dr. Bana Kartasasmita served as the organizing committee chair for these conferences.

The national mathematics conference and SEAMS conference were driven by Prof. Dr. Lee Peng Yee's ardor to bring mathematicians together in Indonesia, and also nurtured by HPm's activities, which had a small group of members but managed to thrive regularly each month.

At the national conference, it was decided to establish an organization at the national level for mathematicians, educators, and mathematics enthusiasts. This organization is now known as Himpunan Matematika Indonesia (Indonesian Mathematical Society). The word "Mathematics" in Indonesian Mathematical Society was chosen to provide opportunities for those who are not mathematicians but interested in mathematics to become members and actively participate in organizational activities. The name Indonesian Mathematical Society was also decided upon to avoid confusion with the existing Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam (Student Islamic Union) organization.

During the conference, Prof. Dr. M. Ansjar from ITB was elected as the chairman of the society, and all attendees were declared founders of Himpunan Matematika Indonesia. Since its inception, IndoMS has held 20 national mathematics conferences: