Excerpt:
The VMI evolved on the campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz from 1975 until the retirement of Ralph Abraham as Professor of Mathematics in 1994, when it moved to a new location in downtown Santa Cruz. It was incorporated as an educational institution in August of 1996. In January of 1997 it acquired 501(c)(3) nonprofit status from the IRS.
The VMI exists for these reasons:
Research on the frontiers of chaos theory, especially for massively complex dynamical systems.
Applications of chaos theory to model complex natural systems, for example, the global economy, large-scale ecosystems, and social systems.
Reform in the curriculum and teaching methods of mathematics in schools, all levels.
Revealing the beauty and importance of mathematics to a broad public.