The Fields Institute Turns Twenty-Five 170725 Final book with covers | Page 155

CHAPTER 24
Running a Program
Matt Valeriote
“Not only did the Institute provide an ideal setting for conducting
research, but strong bonds were formed between the participants
that have lasted throughout their careers.”
Bradd Hart and I ran a thematic program on Algebraic Model
Theory in 1996–97, just after the Institute moved to Toronto.
It was a wonderful year for us and I know that many of the
participants, especially the younger ones, found their time at
the Institute to be a formative experience. Not only did the
Institute provide an ideal setting for conducting research, but
strong bonds were formed between the participants that have
lasted throughout their careers. I also co-organized a summer
thematic program in 2011 on the mathematics of constraint
satisfaction and had a similar experience.
One thing that my co-organizers and I appreciated was
the flexibility that the administration exhibited in their
approach to running programs and workshops. They always