Results in our two undergraduate problem-solving competitions --
the national William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition in December and our
in-house Calculus Competition in the spring -- were especially gratifying this
year, leading to our awarding unusually many prizes at the department's annual
awards ceremony in April 2004.
3615 students from 479 colleges and universities in the United
States and Canada participated in the Putnam competition, which was
administered in the form of a brutal examination given in two three-hour
portions on Saturday, December 6, 2003.
The median score nationally was 1 point out of 120. Twelve UConn students participated, and
five of them received substantial scores.
Brian D'Astous and Michael Nehring placed in the top 13 percent, Cheng
Yu in the top 15 percent, Andrew Polonsky in the top 22 percent, and Zachary
Chaves in the top 30 percent. As
far as we can determine, never before have so many of our students placed so
well. All five were honored at the
awards ceremony, and all are expected back next year, so with additional
emerging talent, the future looks bright indeed.
The department's annual Calculus Competition was held on March 31,
2004. Twenty-one students participated, and every single one of them submitted
a paper of substance, an unprecedented occurrence. For the second year in a row, Gregory Magoon was the top
finisher over-all; he was followed by Heeseop Shin and John Haga. Shin also led
in the intermediate category, followed by Yik-Sian James Seow. Seow in turn won in the beginner
category, followed by Laura Mariano and Aparna Boddapati (tie) and then Matthew
Boland. A number of honorable mentions were also awarded.
The presence of such a large group of bright and interested
problem-solvers has induced the department to resurrect its one-hour-per-week
undergraduate problem seminar (not given in many years) this fall.
For recognition
of our majors by the University as a whole, please direct your attention to the
article "Undergraduate Student News," where you will learn, among
other things, of the extraordinary success of this year's junior mathematics
majors in achieving invitations to the national academic honor society, Phi
Beta Kappa.
UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENT NEWS
Among the students nominated in 2004 to join the
University's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the national liberal arts and sciences honor society, which dates
from 1776, were a significant number of mathematics students. By concentration,
the initiates included one Applied Mathematical Sciences major: Rebecca
Schuetz; six Mathematics/Actuarial Science majors: Christie Dietrich, Stanislav
Gotchev, Brian Jawin, Monica Johnson Noel, Surekha Patel, Thomas Wilk Jr; and
eight Mathematics majors: Jonathan Axtell, Brian D'Astous, Amie Howell, Geri
Izbicki, Kelly McCabe, Michael Nehring, Valerie Pare, Melissa Prokop. The
criteria for nomination are a high overall grade point average and a program
rich in liberal studies. This spring only ten juniors were chosen, from all
fields of study; so the fact that four of our juniors (Brian D'Astous,
Christie, Stanislav, and Michael) were selected is something in which we take
great pride.
Geri Izbicki, Peter Fagan, Jonathan Lynn, and Melissa
Prokop graduated with honors.
David
Gross, Undergraduate Studies Chair, has an update [lightly rewritten by your editors]
on a family of recently graduated students:
Let me take a moment here
to let you know about the accomplishments of some of our graduates. Michael
Wininger graduated in December 2003 with a dual degree (BA in Math/BS in
Physics). He is now working in the engineering department of Adidas in Oregon.
Michael has been accepted to three graduate schools and is leaning toward going
to graduate school in Scotland to study rehabilitation engineering,
concentrating on prosthetic engineering. Many of you may remember his brother
Matthew (BA in Mathematics-Actuarial Science with Cum Laude honors, May 2000).
Matthew is a Senior Actuarial Associate at the Hartford and is closing in on
Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries, having completed the course work and nearly
all of the professional development requirements. Congratulations are also due
on his upcoming marriage. To round this out, the third Wininger brother,
William, graduated in May 2004 with a BA degree in Political Science and a
minor in History. (Of course, he took calculus.) He was just accepted to the
Harvard Divinity School where he will continue his studies in political science
with a specialization in mid-eastern studies. He feels that to really
understand all the political influences in the countries of that region, one
must understand the religious influences as well. Quite a trio of brothers!