MAA Awards and Prizes July 2020
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MAA Awards and Prizes July 2020 MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA maa.org/awards Awards and Prizes A list of awards and prizes appears below. The full citation, winner responses and bios start on p. 6. Click- ing on a winner’s name will take you to the citation. MAA Award for Inclusivity William Yslas Vélez, University of Arizona Henry L. Alder Awards Selenne Bañuelos, California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) Kenneth Monks, Front Range Community College- Boulder County Campus (BCC) Brandy Wiegers, Central Washington University Carl B. Allendoerfer Awards Beth Malmskog and Kathryn Haymaker “What (quilting) circles can be squared?” Mathematics Magazine, 92(3), 173–186. 10.1080/0025570X.2019.1588033 Juan Arias de Reyna, David Clark, and Noam Elkies “A modern solution to the Gion Shrine Problem,” Mathematics Magazine, 92(2), 110–122. 10.1080/0025570X.2019.1557007 Mary P. Dolciani Award Henry Pollak, Columbia University Trevor Evans Award Sanaz Aliari Kardehdeh, Bruce Golden, and Eric Oden “Experimental Graph Theory,” Math Horizons, 27(2), 10–13. 10.1080/10724117.2019.1650490 Paul R. Halmos – Lester R. Ford Awards Daniel Ullman and Daniel Velleman “Differences of bijections,” The American Mathematical Monthly, 126(3), 199–216. 10.1080/00029890.2019.1546077 Colin Adams, Allison Henrich, Kate Kearney, and Nicholas Scoville “Knots related by knotoids,” The American Mathematical Monthly, 126(6), 483–490. 10.1080/00029890.2019.1583971 John B. Little “The many lives of the twisted cubic,” The American Mathematical Monthly, 126(7), 579–592. 10.1080/00029890.2019.1601974 2 MAA Awards and Prizes July 2020 Balázs Gerencsér and Viktor Harangi “Too acute to be true: The story of acute sets,” The American Mathematical Monthly, 126(10), 905–914. 10.1080/00029890.2019.1655311 George Pólya Awards Christopher Catone “Bringing calculus into discrete math via the discrete derivative,” The College Mathematics Journal, 50(1), 21–27. 10.1080/07468342.2019.1530553 Adam Glesser, Matt Rathbun, Isabel Serrano, Bogdan D. Suceavă “Eclectic illuminism: Applications of affine geometry,” The College Mathematics Journal, 50(2), 82–92. 10.1080/07468342.2019.1565588 Annie and John Selden Prize Paul Dawkins, Texas State University Daniel Solow Author’s Award Jim Hefferon, Saint Michael’s College Meritorious Service Awards Tamara Lakins, Allegheny College Allegheny Mountain Section Ezra (Bud) Brown, Virginia Tech MD-DC-VA Section Thomas Hagedorn, The College of New Jersey New Jersey Section Lisa Mantini, Oklahoma State University Oklahoma-Arkansas Section Shawnee McMurran, California State University, San Bernardino Southern California-Nevada Section MAA Awards and Prizes July 2020 3 Competitions The 80th William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition December 7, 2019 The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is an annual contest of the Mathematical Associa- tion of America for college students established in 1938 in memory of its namesake. Each year on the first Saturday in December, over 4000 students spend six hours (in two sittings) trying to solve twelve prob- lems. The Five Highest Ranking Individuals (in alphabetical order) 1. Ashwin Sah, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2. Kevin Sun, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3. Yuan Yao, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 4. Shengtong Zhang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5. Daniel Zhu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Team Winners 1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ashwin Sah, Shengtong Zhang, Daniel Zhu 2. Harvard University Sehun Kim, Sheldon Kieren Tan, Franklyn Wang 3. Stanford University David Kewei Lin, John Mistele, Hanzhi Zheng, Yifan Zhu 4. University of California, Los Angeles Ciprian Bonciocat, Jacob Zhang, Kaiqi Zhu 5. University of Waterloo Gian Cordana Sanjaya, Kai Sun, Anzo Zhao Yang Teh The Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize, established in 1992, is awarded periodically to a woman whose per- formance on the Putnam Exam is deemed particularly meritorious. The prizes this year go to: Laura Pierson, Harvard University Qi Qi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Hanzhi Zheng, Stanford University The United States Online Mathematical Olympiad The USOMO (United States Online Mathematical Olympiad) provides a means of identifying and encour- aging the most creative secondary mathematics students in the country. It serves to indicate the talent of those who may become leaders in the mathematical sciences of the next generation. The USOMO is part of a worldwide system of national mathematics competitions, a movement in which both educators and research mathematicians are engaged in recognizing and celebrating the imagination and resourcefulness of our youth. The USOMO is a six-question, two-day, nine-hour essay/proof examination. This year it was held June 19–20. 4 MAA Awards and Prizes July 2020 Winners (in alphabetical order) Ankit Bisain, Canyon Crest Academy, CA Brandon Chen, Bellevue High School, WA Quanlin Chen, Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science, NJ Kevin Cong, Phillips Exeter Academy, NJ Eric Gan, A&M Consolidated High School, TX Gopal Goel, Krishna Homeschool, OR Thomas Guo, Phillips Exeter Academy, NH Daniel Hong, Skyline High School, WA Tianze Jiang, Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science, NJ Benjamin Kang, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, VA Maxim Li, Okemos High School, MI Brian Liu, High Technology High School, NJ Luke Robitaille, Robitaille Homeschool, TX Noah Walsh, Homeschooled, Walsh Academy, OR Edward Wan, Saint John’s School, FL Brandon Wang, Saratoga High School, CA The European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad The European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO) is a mathematical olympiad for girls which started in 2012. While the competition was originally scheduled to be in the Netherlands, it was held virtually on April 15–21, 2020. The United States was represented by a team of four who took fourth place with one individual gold medal and three individual silver medals. Team Members (in alphabetical order) Sanjana Das, Basis Independent Silicon Valley Ashley Ke, Fremont High School Elizabeth Ke, Fremont High School Christine Yang, Gilbert Classical Academy The Romanian Master of Mathematics The Romanian Master of Mathematics is an annual competition for students at the pre-university level, held in Bucharest, Romania; the 12th RMM was held from February 26th to March 2nd, 2020. The United States was represented by a team of five who took third place with three individual silver medals and two individual bronze medals. Team Members (in alphabetical order) Quanlin Chen, Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science Kevin Cong, Phillips Exeter Academy Eric Gan, Miramonte High School Gopal Goel, Krishna Home School Jeffrey Kwan, Harker Upper School MAA Awards and Prizes July 2020 5 Awards and Prizes MAA Award for Inclusivity William Yslas Vélez University of Arizona Those who know Dr. Vélez are well aware of his high-quality service to the MAA and the mathematics profession in general, but even those who have served alongside him may be surprised by the extent of his work. His long-standing passion has opened the doors to mathematics and the sciences for underrepre- sented groups and attracted students to the mathematics major. His nomination recounts how he invited all first-year minority students at the University of Arizona who had declared a STEM major to come see him, and he told them they should consider minoring in mathematics. Over thirty of Dr. Velez’s colleagues signed a letter explaining “For those students who came to see him, he talked to them one-on-one and at length. He discussed their career and personal goals and instructed them on what one is able to accomplish with a mathematics degree. He even helped them complete needed paperwork to add a mathematics minor, major, or to change majors altogether. By doing this, he not only helped dramatically increase the number of minority students and students of color in the mathematics department at his institution, but more importantly, let these students know that there is someone personally devoted to their success. From that moment on he was there for them throughout (and beyond) their studies at The University of Arizona.” Vélez’s mentoring did not stop at the undergraduate level. Many mathematicians within the Latinx/ Hispanic mathematics community have been mentored by Vélez along their way to becoming mathemati- cians. He has helped build a healthy and vibrant mathematical community where all are welcome. Early in his academic career, Vélez presented papers dealing with minority participation in mathemat- ics and the sciences, evidence of his interest that was to blossom by the late 1980s in the form of grants, publications, and regular participation on national boards and committees. The grant projects related to minority participation that Bill has either directed or co-directed have provided scholarships, funded REU programs, and supported minority recruiting and retention efforts. He has written numerous articles discussing strategies for attracting students to the mathematics major and for increasing minority par- ticipation. His tireless efforts have resulted in several advising and mentoring awards, including the 1997 President’s Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring Program. Widely recognized as a leader in advancing minority participation in mathematics and the sciences, Dr. Vélez has served as President of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native