1. Introduction.

1.1. Mission. The Consortium for Order in Algebra and Logic -- OAL, throughout this document -- is a research-oriented organization designed to draw into focus the manifold strengths of the discipline of Ordered Algebraic Structures, by supporting and promoting activities such as the following:

• international conferences and research collaborations afforded by such conferences;
• short and long-term visiting appointments and exchanges involving researchers and their PhD students.

1.2. Ordered Algebraic Structures. OAL regards Ordered Algebraic Structures -- henceforth referred to as the Discipline -- as the aggregate of mathematics which is concerned with order-theoretic features of algebraic structures, ranging from the studies of lattices and frames to real algebraic geometry; residuated lattices to positivity in functional analysis; lattice-ordered groups and MV-algebras to algebraic logic.

1.3. Motivation. The Discipline is central to mathematics and, indeed, ubiquitous. Yet, over time, it has developed under the in uence of mathematical ideas from a variety of areas, making communication among researchers more difficult, even as research in the various specialties flourished. Success in OAL's mission ought to therefore be measured, in the short term, by the establishment of new and fruitful collaborations between researchers and disciplines, and, in the long run, by the wealth and scope of applications of pure research.

1.4. The Future: Graduate Students. One of the reasons that the current OAL conferences -- see 2.1 -- came into existence was to acquaint graduate students with the strength and diversity in the discipline, and to place them in contact with experienced researchers. The developers of OAL have each had a number of PhD students who have benefitted from these conferences. For at least four of these students, contact with OAL conference participants led to their placement after the PhD. All this is well and good. Now comes the next stage: that of securing the future of the Discipline through the recruitment and education of graduate students. A number of institutions have been successful at this; the developers of OAL take deserved pride in their measure of success at their home universities. There are other success stories, that should be more roundly celebrated, and OAL aims to be an instrument in this regard.

2. The ORD Conferences to Date.

2.1. The Conferences. OAL has evolved ad hoc, through a series of conferences -- bearing the prefix 'ORD' through 2006, and OAL thereafter -- of modest size and budget. They have generally been three-to-four day programs, featuring from 15 to 25 speakers, whose talks are scheduled with ample breaks, in order to facilitate interaction. The first conference in the ORD series was held in early March, 1998, at the University of Florida (UF). Since that initial meeting, there has been a conference in the series every year, in the spring, without interruption. The themes or focusses of the ORD conferences have varied, year-to-year, re ecting the particular interests of the organizers. In each case the focus has been generously interpreted, the aim being to include rather than exclude.

2.2. History of Support. The ORD conferences have been funded by the hosting mathematics departments, with support from the appropriate overseeing academic units, as well as by private sources and occasional support from the National Science Foundation.

3. Modus Operandi.

3.1. Association and Organization. OAL is organized to function independently and without formal affiliation with any particular academic institution. At the same time, OAL aims to foster an informal network of associated research groups. The immediate goal is to institute OAL as a not-for-profit corporation. The developers of the consortium are Jorge Martínez (UF) and Constantine Tsinakis (Vanderbilt). Both have had significant experience in the organization of conferences and the promotion of research in the discipline. Martínez directed the Caribbean Mathematics Foundation (1989-1998), based in Curaçao (Neth. Antilles), which produced 11 conferences in a variety of disciplines, and was supported by the local government, NSF (1990, 1992), the EU (1994-1996), and the private sector. Tsinakis has served as Departmental Chair (1993-2000), Associate Provost for Faculty (2000-2001), and Executive Dean of the College of Arts & Science (2001-2004).

3.2. The Conference Program. OAL aims to continue a program of conferences. The typical OAL conference, as described in 2.1, will remain a prominent element of the general program and be scheduled frequently. On the other hand, the foundation will also promote larger conferences, which feature workshop components and focussed tutorials aimed at graduate students. Events sponsored by OAL should function as launching platforms for new collaborations, and as networking media for placement of PhD students. The foundation will encourage the publication of tutorials and proceedings, especially those featuring extended expository articles.

3.3. Interaction with the ANTC Group at UF. The Algebra, Number Theory and Combinatorics Group (ANTC) is an emerging association in the Mathematics Department at UF. Its mission and goals are in line with those of OAL, and the research objectives overlap in the discipline of Algebra. OAL, therefore, looks forward to a fruitful collaboration with ANTC.

3.4. Funding. Once its not-for-profit status is established, OAL will welcome contributions from individuals, corporations, and other institutions. All contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by U.S. law. In general, OAL expects to operate with ample flexibility in the disposition of contributed funds, to enable it to take advantage of developments in the discipline.