History

Name and sponsors

The exam now known as the AMC 12 began in 1950 as the Annual High School Contest under the sponsorship of the Metropolitan (New York) Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). It was offered only in New York state until 1952 when it became a national contest under the sponsorship of the MAA and the Society of Actuaries. By 1982, sponsorship had grown to include the national high school and two-year college honorary mathematics society Mu Alpha Theta, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and the Casualty Actuary Society. Today there are twelve sponsoring organizations, which, in addition to the above, include the American Statistical Association, the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, the American Mathematical Society, the American Society of Pension Actuaries, the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications, the national collegiate honorary mathematics society Pi Mu Epsilon, and the National Association of Mathematicians. During the years 1973–1982 the exam was called the Annual High School Mathematics Examination. The name American High School Mathematics Examination and the better known acronym AHSME, were introduced in 1983. At this time, the organizational unit became the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), a subcommittee of the Mathematical Association of America. Also in 1983, a new exam, the American Invitational Math Exam (AIME), was introduced. Two years later, the AMC introduced the American Junior High School Mathematics Examination (AJHSME).