Michael Sullivan Donates $100,000 to Fund Lecture Series, Matching Gift Challenge

A generous gift from mathematics textbook author and long-time member Michael Sullivan will fund an annual lecture at the TAA annual conference and a 1:1 matching gift challenge to encourage additional gifts to support the association.
His $100,000 donation is the largest gift TAA has ever received. Michael is a past-president of the TAA Council, served several terms as TAA Council Treasurer, and has been a long-time member.

“Michael’s gift will allow TAA to provide a top-notch lecturer with expertise on the textbook or academic authoring and publishing industry to further our mission of supporting textbook and academic authors in their authoring pursuits,” said TAA Executive Director Kim Pawlak.

One-half of the gift, $50,000, will be used to fund the Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring, honoring the life and work of Michael Sullivan, who has authored or co-authored more than 120 mathematics textbooks, many of which have been published in multiple editions.

2023 TAA Virtual Conference Attracted 120 Registrants, Received Rave Reviews

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2023 TAA Conference on Textbook and Academic Authoring June 9-10. 

More than 120 academic authors, textbook authors, and industry professionals participated in the two-day virtual conference, which received rave reviews, including:


”Thank you for an engaging and helpful session! Your specific examples from your own life were especially helpful, as well as the activities that made me think about my own writing.” (Empowering Joyful Writing by Tracey Hodges) – Jennifer Nelson

“Took away some great ideas for giving feedback to doctoral students but also what and when to ask for feedback myself.” (The Feedback Conundrum: How to Ask for What You Want to Get What You Need, by Wendi Zimmer and Erin McTigue) – Donna Elkins