UMKC Department of Mathematics and Statistics Student Awards Undergraduate

Undergraduate Student Awards


2012 2011 2010 2009	2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

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2012

24 July 2012: We hear the good news that undergraduate mathematics major Jon Ross will have his expository paper
"Berkeley Contra the 'Infidel Mathematicians'"
published in the UMKC Fall 2012 Sosland Journal. The paper was written during Spring 2012 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
May 2012: Two students were inducted into Mu Sigma Rho, the National Statistics Honorary Society: Dustin Nicolaisen and Paul Plummer, each of whom was given a certificate and a pin of the honor society, as well as a one year student membership in the American Statistical Association (ASA), paid by the Kansas-Western Missouri Chapter of the ASA.
4 May 2012: Five undergraduate mathematics majors, Eric Bowman, Kris Everson, Alex Karanevich, Dustin Nicolaisen, and Jon Ross, all graduate with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations all!
2 May 2012: we learn today that undergraduate mathematics major Jesse Hamer is the winner of the ninth annual 2012 HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for expository papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country! Congratulations, Jesse! His paper will be posted on both the HOMSIGMAA web site, and the Convergence web site. [In 2011 we had the winner and one runner up, in 2010 we had three UMKC finalists and one first place winner, in 2008 we had one finalist, in 2006 we had three finalists and one first place winner, and in both 2005 and 2004, we won (or co-won) first place.] Jesse's winning paper is titled
"Indivisibles and the Cycloid in the Early 17^th Century."
Jesse will receive an MAA student membership and some MAA books provided by HOMSIGMAA, a complimentary CSHPM (Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics) membership, and books donated by Johns Hopkins University Press. Jesse's paper was written this Spring 2012 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
19 April 2012: Undergraduate student Brent Rogers presents a poster titled
"Mathematical Model to Quantify Dosing and Evaluate Effects of Modifications of Cancer Virotherapy"
at the 12^th annual SEARCH Symposium for Research and Creative Achievements in Pierson auditorium, winning First Prize in the "Biological and Health Sciences" category. Congratulations, Brent! His faculty mentor is Swati DebRoy, from whom he took Calculus III this semester. For the project he helped create an ordinary differential equation model and find its equilibria using Mathematica. [See 11 April 2008, below, for our last student SEARCH winner, Whitney Berard.]
April 2012: We hear the good news that the Honors Undergraduate Journal Lucerna has accepted for publication in the Fall 2012 Volume 7, two expository mathematics papers written by Mathematics majors, one by Alex Karanevich titled
"Trigonometry Development in Ancient and Medieval India",
and one by Jesse Hamer titled
"Indivisibles and the Cycloid in the Early 17^th Century".
Congratulations Alex and Jesse! Alex's paper was written during Spring 2011, and Jesse's during Spring 2012 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).

2011

19 December 2011: Undergraduate mathematics major Abhishek Mallela graduates with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations!
23 May 2011: Undergraduate mathematics major Paul Stahl is the winner of the eighth annual HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country! Congratulations, Paul! His paper will be posted on both the HOMSIGMAA web site, and the Convergence web site. Take a look! In addition this year, 2011, undergraduate mathematics major Rick Hill is one of two runners-up. In 2010 we had three UMKC finalists and one first place winner, in 2008 we had one finalist, in 2006 we had three finalists and one first place winner, and in both 2005 and 2004, we won (or co-won) first place. Paul's winning paper is titled
"Kepler's Development of Mathematical Astronomy."
Rick's runner-up paper is titled
"Thomas Harriot's Artis Analyticae Praxis and the Roots of Modern Algebra."
Paul will receive an MAA student membership and some MAA books provided by HOMSIGMAA, a complimentary CSHPM (Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics) membership, and books donated by Johns Hopkins University Press. Both Paul's and Rick's papers were written this Spring 2011 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).

2010

26 October 2010: Mathematics major Jenny Nielsen receives her Advanced Category Essay prize in the UMKC Ilus W. Davis Writing Competition at the Sosland Celebration of Writing in the University Center, for her expository paper:
"The Heart is a Dust Board: Abu'l Wafa Al-Buzjani, Dissection, Construction, and the Dialog Between Art and Mathematics in Medieval Islamic Culture"
published in the UMKC Fall 2010 Sosland Journal. The paper was written during Spring 2010 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
25 August 2010: We hear the good news that undergraduate mathematics major Jenny Nielsen has won the Advanced Category Essay prize in the UMKC Ilus W. Davis Writing Competition, and her expository paper
"The Heart is a Dust Board: Abu'l Wafa Al-Buzjani, Dissection, Construction, and the Dialog Between Art and Mathematics in Medieval Islamic Culture"
will be published in the UMKC Fall 2010 Sosland Journal. The paper was written during Spring 2010 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
June 2010: We hear the good news that the Honors Undergraduate Journal Lucerna has accepted for publication in the Fall 2010 Volume 5, an expository mathematics paper written by Mathematics major Nicholas Ball titled
"Getting to the Root of the Problem: An Introduction to Fibonacci's Method of Finding Square Roots of Integers".
Congratulations Nick! The paper was written during Spring 2010 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).

7 May 2010: Undergraduate mathematics majors Tracey Trupka and Tom Scott graduate with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations, both! Tracey will soon graduate from UMKC's six-year medical school program, and Tom will become a graduate student in Physics at the University of Nebraska in the Fall. [See below for the expository talk Tom gave on 30 November 2007.]
5 May 2010: Hurrah! Undergraduate mathematics major Jenny Nielsen is one of the three first place co-winners of the seventh annual HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country! Congratulations, Jenny! Her paper is posted on both the HOMSIGMAA web site, and the Convergence web site. Take a look! This year, 2010, we had three UMKC finalists, in 2008 we had one, in 2006 we had three finalists and one first place winner, and in both 2005 and 2004, we won (or co-won) first place. Jenny's winning paper is titled
"The Heart is a Dust Board: Abu'l Wafa Al-Buzjani, Dissection, Construction, and the Dialog Between Art and Mathematics in Medieval Islamic Culture."
Jenny will receive an MAA student membership and some MAA books provided by HOMSIGMAA, a complimentary CSHPM (Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics) membership, and books donated by Johns Hopkins University Press. Jenny's paper was written this Spring 2010 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
20 April 2010: We hear the good news that undergraduate mathematics majors Nicholas Ball, and Jenny Nielsen and 2009 graduating senior Brad Fulk are finalists for the seventh annual HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country. Congratulations, all! In 2008, one of our department majors was a finalist. In 2006, three of our department majors were finalists, and one won first place. We also won (or co-won) first place in both 2005 and 2004. Nick's paper is titled
"Getting to the Root of the Problem: An Introduction to Fibonacci's Method of Finding Square Roots of Integers,"
while Jenny's is titled
"The Heart is a Dust Board: Abu'l Wafa Al-Buzjani, Dissection, Construction, and the Dialog Between Art and Mathematics in Medieval Islamic Culture,"
and lastly, Brad's is titled
"Adolphe Quetelet: An Analysis of His Research on the Propensity for Crime at Different Ages".
Nick and Jenny's papers were written this Spring 2010 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive). Brad Fulk's paper was written in Spring 2009 for the same course.

2009

5 November 2009: Mathematics Education major Bradley Fulk receives his Advanced Category Essay prize in the UMKC Ilus W. Davis Writing Competition at the Sosland Celebration of Writing in the University Center, for his expository paper
"Adolphe Quetelet: An Analysis of His Research on the Propensity for Crime at Different Ages"
which was published in the UMKC Fall 2009 Sosland Journal. The paper was written during Spring 2009 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
20 July 2009: We hear the good news that Mathematics Education major Bradley Fulk has won the Advanced Category Essay prize in the UMKC Ilus W. Davis Writing Competition, and his expository paper
"Adolphe Quetelet: An Analysis of His Research on the Propensity for Crime at Different Ages"
will be published in the UMKC Fall 2009 Sosland Journal. The paper was written during Spring 2009 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
12 June 2009: We hear the good news that the Honors Undergraduate Journal Lucerna has accepted for publication in the Fall 2009 Volume 4, an expository mathematics paper written by Mathematics major Cam Buie titled
"The Bernoulli Brothers and the Brachistochrone".
Congratulations Cam! The paper was written during Spring 2009 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
8 May 2009: Undergraduate mathematics major Cam Buie graduates with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations, Cam! He will be returning in the Fall as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in our department.

2008

25 June 2008: We hear the good news that Mathematics major Jace Ferguson has won the Advanced Level Essay prize in the UMKC Ilus W. Davis Writing Competition, and his expository paper
"Early Binary: History and Application"
will be published in the UMKC Fall 2008 Sosland Journal. The paper was written during Spring 2008 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
11 April 2008: Undergraduate major Whitney Berard presents a poster titled
"Graphs Based on Vector Spaces over Finite Fields"
at the eighth annual SEARCH Symposium for Research and Creative Achievements in Pierson auditorium, winning First Prize in the "Physical Sciences and Mathematics" Division. Congratulations, Whitney! Her faculty mentor is Liana Sega. [This award was also mentioned in a U-News article, April 28 issue, p.5, "UMKC Undergrads Show Off Research".]
[See pictures below, and also All Pictures.]
10 April 2008: We hear the good news that undergraduate mathematics major Tracey Davidson is a finalist for the fifth annual HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country. Congratulations, Tracey! In 2006, three of our department majors were finalists, and one won first place. We also won (or co-won) first place in both 2005 and 2004. Tracey's paper is titled
"Nicole Oresme: The Kinematics of Celestial Motion."
Her paper was written this Spring 2008 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
17 March 2008: We learn that undergraduate major Whitney Berard [See picture at right.] is awarded a SEARCH grant to do undergraduate research with our own Liana Sega.

2007

14 December 2007: Undergraduate mathematics major Raulee Lucero graduates with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations, Raulee! [See picture at right.]
5 May 2007: Undergraduate mathematics major David Jackson graduates with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations, David!
16 March 2007: We hear the good news that the new Honors Undergraduate Journal Lucerna has accepted for publication in the Fall 2007 Volume 2, an expository mathematics paper written by Mathematics major Sam Butler-Hunziker titled
"George Berkeley's Mathematical Philosophy and The Calculus",
and another expository mathematics paper written by Mathematics major Lisa Erickson, titled
"Polygonal Numbers".
Congratulations Sam and Lisa! The two papers were written during Winter 2006 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).

2006

December 2006: Undergraduate mathematics major Brittany Brigham graduates with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations!
May 2006: Undergraduate mathematics majors Elizabeth Erickson, Samantha Reynolds, and Newlyn Walkup graduate with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations!
24 May 2006: We hear the good news that undergraduate mathematics major (and UMKC 2006 B.S. graduate) Samantha Reynolds has won one of two 1^st place awards in the third annual HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country. In fact, three UMKC Department of Mathematics and Statistics students were finalists this year: Samantha, Sam Butler-Hunziker, and Lisa Erickson (also a UMKC 2006 B.S. graduate) [Last year on 9 May 2005, we heard that undergraduate mathematics major Newlyn Walkup won 1^st place in the second annual contest. Newlyn's paper was then published in the MAA's online History of Mathematics magazine Convergence: Where Mathematics, History and Teaching Interact. The previous year on 24 April 2004, we heard that undergraduate mathematics major Heath Yates shared 1^st place in the first such annual contest.] Samantha's paper is titled
"Maria Gaetana Agnesi: Female Mathematician and Brilliant Expositor of the Eighteenth Century."
She will receive a certificate from the MAA, a free MAA student membership for next year, and $25 worth of books from the MAA online bookstore. Her paper will also be published on the HOMSIGMAA website. Congratulations, Samantha! Her paper was written during Winter 2005, while the other two finalist papers were written during Winter 2006, all for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).

2005

November 2005: We hear the good news that the expository mathematics paper "Eratosthenes and the Mystery of the Stades" written by undergraduate mathematics major Newlyn Walkup, will now also be published in the MAA's online History of Mathematics magazine Convergence: Where Mathematics, History and Teaching Interact. This paper won 1^st place in the 2005 second annual HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country and was already published on the HOMSIGMAA website. Congratulations again, Newlyn! The paper was written during Winter 2005 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
6 October 2005: We present undergraduate mathematics major Melanie Meyer with the Waldemar J. Trjitzinsky Scholarship for 2005-2006.
Each year the AMS (American Mathematical Society) randomly selects a mathematics department which is an institutional member of the AMS, and asks them to select a student for the award. Our department is among those selected for 2005-2006. The scholarships are funded by a 1988 bequest in memory of Waldemar J. Trjitzinsky, and are intended to help needy, talented students pursue their undergraduate studies in mathematics. The scholarship is $3,000 and our department contributed an additional $1,000. [You can read about the 2005 Awards.] Congratulations, Melanie! [See picture at right -->. Photographer: Graduate Student Sarah Vaughn.]
Fall 2005: In the UMKC Sosland Journal, Mathematics major Samantha Reynolds publishes an expository paper,
"Maria Gaetana Agnesi: Female Mathematician and Brilliant Expositor of the 18th Century",
winning the Advanced Level Essay prize, and mathematics major Newlyn Walkup also publishes an expository paper,
"The Perspective of Girard Desargues".
The two papers were written during Winter 2005 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
May 2005: Undergraduate mathematics major Elizabeth Leone graduates with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations!
9 May 2005: We hear the good news that undergraduate mathematics major Newlyn Walkup has won 1^st place (!) in the second annual HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country. [Last year on 24 April 2004 we heard that undergraduate mathematics major Heath Yates tied for 1^st place in the first such annual contest.] Newlyn's paper is titled
"Eratosthenes and the Mystery of the Stades."
He will receive a certificate from the MAA, a free MAA student membership for next year, and $25 worth of books from the MAA online bookstore. His paper will also be published on the HOMSIGMAA website. Congratulations, Newlyn! The paper was written during Winter 2005 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).

2004

December 2004: Undergraduate mathematics major John Nangle graduates with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations!
October 2004: Mathematics education major Carrie Andersen publishes an expository paper about the famous Konigsberg Bridge problem,
"The Origination of Euler's Path",
and mathematics major Heath Yates also publishes an expository paper,
"An Emanji Temple Geometry Tablet",
in the UMKC Sosland Journal, now published online. The two papers were written during Winter 2004 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
24 April 2004: We hear the good news that undergraduate mathematics major Heath Yates has tied for 1^st place (!) in the first annual HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country. His paper is titled
"An Emanji Temple Geometry Tablet."
He will receive a certificate from the MAA, a free MAA student membership for next year, and a $25 shopping spree on MAA Online. His paper will also be published on the HOMSIGMAA website. Congratulations, Heath! The paper was written during Winter 2004 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).
16 April 2004: Mathematics major and secondary education major senior Dion McNeal is named the UMKC recipient of the Coca-Cola Community All-American award as the student-athlete who has helped make the biggest difference in the community.

2003

May 2003: Undergraduate mathematics major Malinee Konboon graduates with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations!

2002

Fall 2002: Undergraduate mathematics major Kristin DeBolt publishes a book review essay,
"Fermat's Enigma: The Book that Proves Mathematics is Anything but Boring",
in the UMKC Sosland Journal, and wins 2^nd place prize in the UMKC Ilus W. Davis Writing Competition, WI Division. The paper was written during Winter 2002 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive).