Welcome
Mathematics began with roots in the basic concepts of space and number and has flowered into many wonderful forms. The creation and discovery of new mathematics have never been more active or vital than they are today. Mathematics is sometimes called the science of pattern and order. It relies on logic as a standard of truth, but uses observation and even experimentation as means of discovering truth. Mathematicians think of their work as a blend of science and art, sometimes elegant and beautiful, describing deep and useful creations. In addition to theorems and theories, mathematics offers distinct modes of thought which are both versatile and powerful for understanding the world.
Courses serve those who wish to make mathematics a part of a liberal arts education, those who desire a mathematics background for other disciplines, such as Computer Science, Economics or the natural sciences, those who wish to minor in Mathematics, and those who wish to major in Mathematics.
Mathematics majors choose careers in education, industry, business, banking and insurance serving as teachers, statisticians, industrial mathematicians, computer programmers or analysts, actuaries and research workers in the biological, management or social sciences. Their training can also serve as a stepping stone to professional training or graduate work in a variety of fields.
News and Events
- On Saturday, May 12, the following mathematics majors were inducted to Phi Beta Kappa: Hanna Bliden (math/econ major), Stephanie Jones, and Taylor McKenzie.
- Congratulations to senior majors Stephanie Jones and Taylor McKenzie who received this year's Chester F. Luther Mathematics Award for Graduating Seniors.
- On Saturday, April 28th, the math club held the Second Annual Pacific Northwest Intercollegiate Ginormous Blokus Tournament. Three schools, Willamette, Pacific University, and Linfield College, competed in a blokus competition with our own ginormous (20 feet by 20 feet) blokus game. Willamette won, taking the PNIGBT trophy back from Pacific, who won last year.
- This Thursday, April 26th, seniors Eric Knowles and Amanda Apple will be presenting their senior seminar projects on Penny Auctions: Bidding Strategies in 2-Player Games and A Game Theory Analysis on Crime and Punishment, respectively.
- On Tuesday, April 24 at 11:30am, Associate Professor Mark Janeba gave a colloquium talk titled Number Theory and internet Commerce.
- On Friday and Saturday, April 20-21, members of the department participated in the Pacific Northwest Section Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America held at the University of Portland. Associate Professor Josh Laison was the Invited Program Chair, coordinating two plenary talks given by Frank Morgan of Williams College and Bob Bosch of Oberlin College. Associate Professor Peter Otto gave a contributed talk, presenting a joint paper titled Polynomial representation for the expected length of minimal spanning trees co-authored with Associate Professor Colin Starr and Willamette University alumni Jared Nishikawa. Associate Professor Josh Laison served on a panel discussion on Publishing Undergraduate Research, and Associate Professor Erin McNicholas spoke on two panels, one on Small Group Discussions in Math Classes, and one on How to Get Tenure and Survive. Next year's meeting will be held at Willamette University on April 12-13, 2013!
- April 19th, Hanna Bliden gave a talk on "Investing in Inequality? Education Subsidies and Income Inequality."
- On April 18, Associate Professor Inga Johnson gave a talk at the University of Portland titled Games Inspired by Knot Theory.
- On Thursday, April 12th, Professor Nicole Seaders gave a colloquium talk on "Using Group Theory to Generalize Diatonic and Pentatonic Scales."
- On Monday, April 9th, Francis Edward Su of Harvey Mudd College gave a talk on "Voting in Agreeable Societies."
- Congratulations to mathematics majors Ross Casebolt and Katie Tucker, both of whom earned positive scores on the 2011 Putnam Exam! Katie placed in the top 54% and Ross in the top 27%.
- Mathematics professors Inga Johnson and Erin McNicholas, along with faculty members in Biology, Computer Science, Chemistry and Physics, received a 2012-2013 Hewlett Grant Award for their proposal titled STEM Colloquium Series: Promoting Interdisciplinary Communication & Collaboration.
- On Wednesday, March 28th, Associate Professor Josh Laison gave a talk in the University of Georgia VIGRE graduate seminar entitled Obstacle Numbers of Graphs.
- On Thursday, March 15th, University of Georgia's Pete L. Clark gave a talk called "From cockroaches to marriage via graph derangements."
- Associate Professors Inga Johnson, Colin Starr, and their colleagues in Mathematics have been awarded $513,069 from the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program to continue the Willamette Valley Mathematics Research Consortium for Undergraduates and Teachers that unites the mathematics research programs of four predominantly undergraduate institutions in northwest Oregon.
- On Wednesday, February 29, the Math Club held the following event. We all know that February 29th isn't real. What better reason to come celebrate i day from 4:30-6:00pm in the math hearth! We'll be eating (real) i-ce cream and playing scrabble! Real fun for an imaginary day!
- On Thursday, February 23, the first colloquium talk of the term was given by Associate Professor Josh Laison. The title of the talk was Variations of Graph Pebbling.
- The Math Club earned the Most Interactive Club award at the Spring Activities Fair.
- On February 13, 2012, the university announced that Professor Erin McNicholas received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. Congratulations Erin!!!