Mathematics

Honors in Mathematics

To receive a designation of Honors in Mathematics at graduation, a student must demonstrate outstanding work in mathematics and complete the following requirements:

  1. Complete a mathematics major with a major GPA of 3.5 or higher.
  2. Complete a major or minor in a related field with a major or minor GPA of 3.5 or higher.
  3. Receive a grade of A in Mathematics 385: Senior Seminar.
  4. Complete three hours of research with a grade of A in Mathematics 398: Research in Mathematics.
  5. Write and defend a thesis.
  6. Demonstrate participation in a variety of mathematics-related extracurricular activities.

Students who are interested in pursuing the honors designation must file a proposal with the chair of the mathematics department after completion of 64 credit hours and before enrolling in Mathematics 385.  The related field must be approved by the chair; possible areas might include computer science, biology, chemistry, physics, philosophy, psychology or economics.  A minimum of four extracurricular activities is required; possible choices include the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, presentation of a paper at a state or regional conference, or the Putnam Competition.  It is understood that only the most outstanding students may receive the degree of Honors in Mathematics.

Application for Honors in Mathematics.

 

Past Honors in Mathematics Students

Kendra Frush:  Kendra graduated in the spring of 2009 with majors in Biochemistry and Honors in Mathematics.  Her Honors research project involved using differential equations to model the spread of infectious diseases in human populations.  She became interested in this application after she traveled to Africa for the May Term course, "Global Health: Confronting AIDS in Namibia", and spent the summer of 2008 volunteering at a hospital in Ghana.  Kendra begain medical school in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa in the fall of 2009.

Chelsy Croson:  Chelsy graduated in the spring of 2009.  Her Honors research project involved graph homomorphisms.  Chelsy began her research in graph theory at a Research Experience for Undergraduates at the University of North Carolina - Asheville in the summer of 2008 and continued that work with Dr. Czarneski for her research project. 

Tracy Robson:  Tracy graduated in the fall of 2008 and she was chosen as the Outstanding Senior in Mathematics.  Her Honors research project involved studying knot theory and its applications to the study of DNA.  This work lead to her acceptance into the Program for Women and Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University in May 2008.

Jonna Anderson:  Jonna graduated in the spring of 2008.  Her Honors research project involved using Ginni coefficients as a measure of the viability of wealth distribution schemes.

Jean Clipperton:  Jean graduated with majors in Philosophy, Spanish and Honors in Mathematics in the spring of 2007.  She was chosen as the Outstanding Senior Major for each department as won the Jordan Award for the outstanding graduate in Humanities at the spring Honors Convocation.  Her thesis for Honors in Mathematics, "L(d,2,1)-Labeling of Simple Graphs," was published in the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Undergraduate Mathematics Journal.  Jean began her research in radio frequency assignments and graph theory at a Research Experience for Undergraduates at Valparaiso Univeristy in the summer of 2006 and continued that work with Dr. Czarneski for her research project.  She competed in the Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling, the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, and the Putnam Competition.   She was an undergraduate assistant leading supplementary instruction sections for Math 110 - Intermediate Algebra and working in the Hawley Academic Resource Center.  Jean served as the president of the Math Club and as a research undergraduate assistant working with Drs. Czarneski and Spellerberg.  She presented a paper on evolutionary game theory at the Iowa Philosophical Society meeting in fall 2005 with Dr. Spellerberg and Casie Schmitt.  She also presented papers at the Symposium for Undergraduate Research at the Argonne National Laboratories, at the Joint Meetings of the MAA and AMS in New Orleans, and at a meeting of the Iowa Section of the MAA.

Shikha Basnet:  Shikha graduated with majors in Economics and Honors in Mathematics in the spring of 2006 and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Pittsburgh.  Her Honors thesis, "Monopolist Strategies in a Durable Goods Market," was published in the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Undergraduate Mathematics Journal.  She participated for three years in the Mathematics Contest in Modeling and her teams received two Meritorious rankings and one Honorable Mention ranking.

Last Updated: 5/23/09