Prizes at Majors' Banquet

May 3, 2016

At a record crowd of 150 majors and faculty at the Faculty House, Prof. Morgan and others announced the following awards:

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Kozelka Prize in statistics: Bryan Jones and Kelly Kung   (awarded by Prof. De Veaux, Associate Chair for Statistics)

Morgan Prize in applied mathematics: Alex Meyer   (awarded by Prof. Blackwood)

Wyskiel Prize in teaching: Mia Smith

Olga Beaver Prize in citizenship: Roger Vargas   (awarded by Prof. Don Beaver)

Goldberg Prize for best colloquium: Alex Kling and Olivia Meyerson

Colloquium Attendance Prizes: Ashwin Narayan and Sarah Fleming

Witte Problem-solving Prize: Blake Mackall  (awarded by Prof. Palsson)

1st Benedict Prize for outstanding sophomore: Anna Neufield and Harry Zhang

2nd Benedict Prize: Sumun Iyer, Andrew Scharf, and Weitao Zhu

The Rosenberg prize for outstanding senior will be announced later. Added May 19: It’s Greg Kehne, Peter McDonald, and Mia Smith!

Seniors offered advice, including:

Blake Mackall: “Hard problems are good because you’re learning.”
Sarah Wu: “Get a tutor.”
Ben Kaufman: “Don’t write “clearly” or “obviously” unless you’re really sure.”
Matt Tarduno: “Don’t use PowerPoint for colloquium.”
Joel Lee: “Use pass-fail.”
Alex Meyer: “Sometimes doing the really hard problem set is worth it; sometimes it isn’t.”
Greg Ferland: “Keep a diary.”
Peter McDonald: “Thesis.”
Roger Vargas: “Limit use of beverage wrench.”
Jon Yin: “Don’t let school get in the way of your education.”
Katie Bennett: “Math is a great place to make friends.”

Next year’s 200 majors (102 rising juniors and 98 rising seniors) is an all-time record and makes us the second largest department at Williams after Economics (213).

Prof. Morgan thanked departing faculty Profs. Don Beaver, Satyan Devadoss, Eyvi Palsson, and Lauren Childs and welcomed Prof. Susan Loepp as new chair on her 20th anniversary at Williams. Prof. Loepp thanked Prof. Morgan for his service, presented him with a picture of his department family, and distributed signature soap bubbles to all:

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About Frank Morgan:

Frank Morgan works in minimal surfaces and has published 200 articles and six books. He is currently Atwell Professor of Mathematics Emeritus at Williams College.
View all posts by Frank Morgan.