In April, 1964, at the request of Roy Lane, then Head of the Mathematics Department, Hamilton High School, a group of representatives from each of many high schools in the North Shore area gathered to consider the possibility of a mathematics promotional program. As a result of this meeting, study groups were formed. A second meeting was held at Concord-Carlisle High school to which representatives from schools in the various leagues throughout the State were invited to attend as were representatives from the Boston Actuaries Club and the Mathematics Department of the University of Massachusetts. At this time, the University of Massachusetts Mathematics Department made it known that it did not want to continue to have the responsibility of handling the competitive mathematics examination sponsored annually by the Actuaries Club. The idea of continuing the competition was foremost in the minds of the representatives at this meeting. An organization to be known as the Massachusetts Association of Mathematics Leagues was then considered and formed to deal with the problem. Lee Jameson, then of the Mathematics Department of Beverly High School, representing the Massachusetts Mathematics League, was appointed temporary chairman. John Waite, Jr. of Winchester High School, representing the Greater Boston Mathematics League, Professor Stephen Allen of the University of Massachusetts, William Favorite of Wilbraham Academy, representing the Western Massachusetts Interscholastic Mathematics League, Walter Luce of Tantasqua Regional High School, representing the Worcester County Mathematics League, and William Taylor of the Actuaries Club of Boston and associated with the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company of Springfield, composed the remainder of the Steering Committee. This committee met several times during the summer of 1964 at the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in Springfield. In September, 1964, the temporary committee resolved itself into the first Executive Board of the Massachusetts Association of Mathematics Leagues – M.A.M.L. An attorney from the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company was employed to advise the group of the legal aspects involved and to write the original by-laws. William Favorite was elected the chairman for a term of one year. John Waite, Jr. was elected the vice-chairman, and Lee Jameson was elected secretary-treasurer. By virtue of the fact that William Favorite was made chairman, it was deemed that he should become the first Contest Director. With the assistance of William Taylor, they set up dates and format for the first Annual Olympiad; the first in November was to be a statewide objective type test, while the second test to be given in April, 1965, to the 100 highest scoring students on the first test, was to be of the free-response type (five questions each having three parts, only one of these five questions to be based on topics chosen from outside the standard curriculum material). Thus was the beginning of M.A.M.L. The idea of continuing competition on a statewide level in the area of mathematics was the underlying principle behind the formation of this association.