Department of Mathematics and Statistics Newsletter 2015 Newsletter | Page 13

Student highlights
Graham Gordon was
chosen as a 2014 Barry M.
Goldwater Scholar. Gordon
was a junior at the time
majoring in mathematics and
physics. The scholarship,
awarded to only about
300 students nationwide,
is widely considered the
most prestigious award in
the United States for undergraduates in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics
disciplines. The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship
Program was established to provide scholarships
to outstanding students who intend to pursue
careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and
engineering. Each scholarship covers eligible
expenses up to a maximum of $7,500 annually for
undergraduate tuition, fees, books, and housing.
In awarding scholarships, the foundation of
trustees considers the nominee’s field of study
and career objectives, along with the extent to
which that individual has the commitment and
potential to make a significant contribution to the
field of science or engineering. Gordon was also
accepted to Budapest Semesters in Mathematics in
June 2014, and is the recipient of the 2013 Andrew
C. Connor Memorial Award.
Doctoral student Steven
Clontz (pictured) ran the first
annual Lamar Mathematical
Puzzle (LaMP) Challenge
at Lamar University in
Beaumont, Texas, on April
25, 2015. He was asked to
design and run the event
by alumnus P. J. Couch
(’12), an assistant professor
at Lamar University. The
LaMP Challenge is based upon Auburn’s AMP’d
Challenge competition, which was created in 2012
by Clontz and Braxton Carrigan (’12), who is now
an assistant professor at Southern Connecticut
State University. The event continues to run
each fall in coordination with the COSAM Office
of Outreach and is designed and organized by
departmental graduate student leadership. In
conjunction with the LaMP event, Clontz and

Carrigan gave invited talks at Lamar on April
24. Carrigan spoke on choosing problems for
undergraduate research, and Clontz spoke on
connections between mathematical puzzles
and active/inquiry-based learning. Clontz also
received the 2015 Dr. Ben Fitzpatrick Memorial
Graduate Fellowship for Students with an Interest
in Topology.

More student highlights
• Joe Chaffee, John Asplund, and James
Hammer, along with some combinatorics
faculty, were instrumental in receiving an
invitation to host the Graduate Student
Combinatorics Conference, arranging for the
invited speakers to come to the conference,
and procuring funding.
• Bertran Sedar Ngoma Koumba and Brice
Merlin Nguelifack were invited to participate
in the workshop on Careers and Opportunities
in Industry for Mathematical Scientists at the
Institute for Mathematics and its Applications
at the University of Minnesota in April 2014.
The workshop was intended to bring together
industrial mathematicians and faculty
members, postdocs, and graduate students
who are interested in exploring careers in and
opportunities for collaborating with industry.
Travel support and local accommodati ۜ