Mathematics department announces Spring 2020 Awards


LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas mathematics department recently recognized its undergraduate and graduate students and faculty for outstanding academic and teaching achievements.  Usually these awards are presented at the department’s annual honors banquet, but due to COVID-19 concerns, the banquet was not held this year.  

Students received over $137,000 in awards and scholarships. Funds for the awards and scholarships are administered through the KU Endowment Association.  

The Kansas Algebra Program recognized two student employees: Hannah Bachman, a senior in biochemistry from Wichita, and Claire Bexten, a senior in civil engineering from Omaha, Nebraska, for their outstanding contributions to teaching, tutoring and extra duties.

The R.D. Brown Award for Undergraduate Excellence was given to Pierce Giffin, a senior in mathematics and physics from Leawood. This award was established in memory of Professor Robert Brown by gifts from his family and friends to provide awards for a senior majoring in mathematics who has demonstrated the most impressive overall achievement in the field of mathematics during his or her undergraduate career. Brown was a faculty member from 1963 to 2009 and served as associate chair and director of undergraduate studies.

John Byrne, a senior in mathematics and economics from Overland Park; Drake Clark, a senior in mathematics and computer engineering from Lenexa, and Jack Johnston, a senior in mathematics, economics and physics from Overland Park, received a cash award to recognize their outstanding performance on the William Lowell Putnam Competition. This is a mathematics competition open to all regularly enrolled undergraduates in colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada.

KU's math department annually recognizes outstanding graduate students:

  • Mikal Nelson, Bloomington, Minnesota, received the Florence Black Award for Excellence in Teaching by a graduate student. The award was established in memory of Black, a faculty member who served from 1918 to 1960.
  • Panqui Xia, Qianjiang, China, received the John Bunce Award. The Bunce award commemorates a KU math professor who served from 1970 to 1991 and his extraordinary concern for the welfare and intellectual development of graduate students.
  • Hamid Mofidi, Tehran, Iran, and Amanda Wilkens, Grafton, Wisconsin, each received the Paul F. Conrad Graduate Scholarship. This award is given in Conrad's memory to provide awards for deserving graduate students in mathematics. In 1981, Conrad was the first Henry J. Bischoff Professor of Mathematics at KU.
  • Aaron Barrett, Abilene, received the Ralph Byers Student Award. This award is presented to outstanding graduate students in numerical analysis in memory of Professor Ralph Byers. Byers was a faculty member in the department from 1987 to 2007.
  • The recipients of the Charles J. and Mary Pat Himmelberg Graduate Student Award are Jayan Mukherjee, Kolkata, India, Wesley Perkins, Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Debaditya Raychaudhury, Kolkata, India. This award was established by a gift from the family of Charlie and Mary Pat Himmelberg. The award is used to support graduate students with merit in the mathematics department. Himmelberg was a faculty member of the department from 1959 to 2005 and served as chairman for more than 20 years.

Faculty annual teaching awards:

  • Mathew Johnson, associate professor of mathematics, received the G. Baley Price award for Excellence in Teaching, awarded by the Mathematics Graduate Student Organization. This award is given to a faculty member who displays the greatest ability and effectiveness in teaching graduate math courses and is selected by the math graduate students.
  • Daniel Hernández, associate professor of mathematics, was awarded the Morrison Foundation Teaching Award. This award was established in 2008 by the Don and Pat Morrison Foundation to recognize outstanding teaching in mathematics.
  • David Nualart, professor of mathematics, received the Max Wells Teaching Award in recognition of outstanding or exemplary teaching in the field of mathematics by a KU faculty member in mathematics. 

Undergraduate scholarships:

Undergraduate scholarships for are awarded to math majors and non-majors with a strong concentration in math classes based on merit.  Graduate summer scholarships are awarded to mathematics graduate students who have passed both qualifying exams and are awarded so advanced graduate students can concentrate on research and prepare for their preliminary oral comprehensive exam.

 

Undergraduate Scholarship Awards

Academic Year 2020-2021
Muhammad Ahsan (Islamabad, Pakistan) Black-Babcock Scholar
Zachary Atkins (Lansing) Wealthy Babcock / T.P. and Saroja Srinivasan Scholar
Sofia Berrospi (Jamesburg, N.J.) Joan Kirkham Scholarship for Women in Mathematics Scholar
Jared Bramble (Tonganoxie) Rollin S. Wade Memorial Scholar
 Jordan Bramble (Tonganoxie) Joan Kirkham Scholarship for Women in Mathematics Scholar
Morgan Cassidy (Columbus) Edith S. Kornbleet Scholar
John Childress (Kansas City) Albert F. Zernickow-Barbara Kile - T.P. and Saroja Srinivasan Scholar
Alaura Custard (Overland Park) Joan Kirkham Scholarship for Women in Mathematics Scholar
Claire Dopp (Olathe) Wealthy Babcock Scholar
Myra Dotzel (Chesterfield, Missouri) Joan Kirkham Scholarship for Women in Mathematics Scholar
Jonathan Downs (Fort Leavenworth) Rollin S. Wade Scholar
Grant Gollier (Lawrence) Black-Babcock / Rollin S. Wade Scholar
Mitchell Harger (McPherson) Charles Ashton / Charles Hobb Scholar
Cameron Harris (Overland Park) T.P. and Saroja Srinivasan Scholar
John Higgins (Olathe) Rollin S. Wade Memorial Scholar
Taylor Himmelhoch (Highland Park, IL) Black-Babcock / Joan Kirkham Scholar
Jack Johnston (Overland Park) Charles H. Ashton Scholar 
Gregory Landgraf (Garden City) Black-Babcock Scholar
Ryan Lundquist (Olathe) Black-Babcock Scholar
Noah Mohabbat (Overland Park) Edith S. Kornbleet Scholar
Jui Nagarkar (Overland Park) Black-Babcock Scholar
Maksym Patiiuk (Volyn Oblast, Ukraine) Charles Ashton / Edith Kornbleet Scholar
Florencio Perez (Emporia) Albert F. Zernickow-Barbara Kile / T.P. and Saroja Srinivasan Scholar
Daniel Schmidt (Olathe) Black-Babcock / Rollin S. Wade Scholar
Michael Svoren (Overland Park) Black-Babcock Scholar
Evan Whited (Overland Park) Edith S. Kornbleet Scholar
Ariel Wyatt (Manhattan) Joan Kirkham Scholarship for Women in Mathematics Scholar
Graduate
Scholarship Awards
Summer 2020
Trevor Arrigoni (Canonsburg, Pennsylvania) U.G. Mitchell Scholar / May Landis
Dylan Beck (Battlefield, Missouri) Rashleigh Family Scholar
Raul Bolanos (Puntarenas, Costa Rica) Kirkham Opportunity Scholar
Mark Denker (Garland, Texas) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Souvik Dey (Barrackpore, India) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Ryan Frier (Emporia) U.G. Mitchell / Kirkham Opportunity Scholar
Harrison Gaebler (Bloomington, Indiana) Rashleigh Family Scholar
Sien Gong (Suyuan Village, China) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Lucian Grand (Madison, Wisconsin) Kirkham Opportunity Scholar
Vishnu Iyer (Cochin, India) May Landis Scholar
Kevin Marshall (Holton) U.G. Mitchell / Florence Black Scholar
Bibekananda Mishra (Balasore, India) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Jayan Mukherjee (Kolkata, India) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Adam Pascoe (Springfield, Missouri) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Wesley Perkins (Jonesboro, Arkansas) Elbert Walker Scholar
John Portin (Vancouver, Washington) May Landis Scholar
Abba Ramadan (Kano, Nigeria) U.G. Mitchell / Elbert Walker Scholar
Debaditya Raychaudhury (Kolkata, India) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Bhargobjyoti Saikia (Jorhat, India) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Majid Sofiani (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Prashanth Sridhar (Chennai, India) May Landis Scholar
Yanru Su (Taikang, China) Kirkham Scholarship for Women Scholar
Ning Wan (Bengbu, China) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Xiang Xu (Zheng Zhou, China) U.G. Mitchell / Kirkham Opportunity Scholar
Yi Yan (Olathe) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Mehmet Yenisey (Istanbul, Turkey) U.G. Mitchell Scholar
Graduate Research Assistants Summer 2020
Sefika Kuzgun (Sakarya, Turkey)  
Pangqiu Xia (Qianjiang, China)  
Jinjin Zhang (Shanghai, China)  

 

Fri, 05/22/2020

author

Gloria Prothe

Media Contacts

Gloria Prothe

Department of Mathematics

785-864-3651