1. Pride
  2. Honors

Honors

MASS 2018 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Kedar Karhadkar: Best Performance in Analysis
  • Sarah Baisley: Best Project in Alaysis
  • Jaziel Torres: Overall Best Performance in the MASS Program and Best Performance in Geometry
  • Luis Quinones-Piris: Best Presentation in Algebra
  • M. Fares Soufan: Community Award-Making the MASS Program Better for Everyone 

MASS 2017 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Maziar Farahzad:  passion for geometry
  • Weiyu Luo: graduation with distinction
  • Raymond Friend:  best project in algebra
  • Gavin Kerrigan: best exam answers in analysis
  • Sean Prudhoe:  best presentation in analysis
  • Sebasian Rauch: best project in analysis
  • Adriana Vega:  hard work in geometry
  • Nikki Wang: graduation with distinction
  • Jacob Yadush: unbeatable exam in geometry
  • Jacob Van Hook: best project in algebra

MASS 2016 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Catherine Babecki:  best project presentation in analysis
  • Connor Cassady:  graduation with distinction
  • Boli Fang:  graduation with distinction
  • Raymond Friend:  graduation with distinction, best performance overall and best project presentation in algebra
  • Kenneth Gill:  graduation with distinction, the hardest projects in geometry and in analysis
  • Yuefei Shen:  excellent overall performance
  • Jacob Van Hook:  graduation with distinction, hardest project in analysis
  • Kaiyi Wu:  excellent overall performance
  • Hangyu Zhou:  graduation with distinction

MASS 2015 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Nawaf Alamsari:  most courageous performance in the program
  • Aaron Elliot:  best project in Classical Mechanics and Calculus of Variations
  • Ethan Gegner:  best exam in Lie Groups in Two, Three and Four Dimensions
  • Matthew Litman:  outstanding overall performance
  • William Noland:  outstanding overall performance
  • Abigail Thurman:  best project in Introduction to Applied Algebraic Geometry
  • Baixiang Wang:  best project in Classical Mechanics and Calculus of Variations
  • Chengfei Xie:  best performance in Lie Groups in Two, Three and Four Dimensions
  • Hangyu Zhou:  graduation with distinction

MASS 2014 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Loren Anderson:  Merit Fellowship
  • Andres Arroyo:  Merit Fellowship
  • Jason Green:  Merit Fellowship
  • Robert Lumpkin:  Merit Fellowship
  • Hongxu Wei:  Merit Fellowship

MASS 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Aaron Calderon:  Merit Fellowship, outstanding work in topology
  • Scott Conrad:  Merit Fellowship, outstanding project in algebra
  • Samantha Fairchild:  outstanding homework in algebra
  • Leah Frederick:  most musical project
  • Max Goering:  Merit Fellowship, excellent exam and project in analysis
  • Andrew Hanlon:  Merit Fellowship, outstanding project in algebra, outstanding performance in analysis
  • Joseph Kraisler:  Merit Fellowship, outstanding performance in topology
  • Stephen Michael Miller:  outstanding performance in topology
  • Justin Miller:  excellent exam in analysis
  • Karthik Nataraj:  innovative project in algebra
  • Minh Nguyen:  outstanding project in analysis
  • Liuquan Wang:  Merit Fellowship, best project in algebra
  • Hongyuan Zhan:  excellent performance in topology

MASS 2012 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Weston Barger:  Merit Fellowship
  • Matthew Chao:  for asking best questions in class
  • Martin Copenhaver:  Merit Fellowship, best lecture delivered to his examiners
  • Yan Dai:  Merit Fellowship, outstanding project in algebra
  • Andrew Hanlon:  outstanding exam in algebra
  • Reid Harris:  Merit Fellowship
  • In-Jee Jeong:  Merit Fellowship, and for being least satisfied with the presented proofs
  • Joseph Kraisler:  Merit Fellowship
  • Elisabeth Paulson:  Merit Fellowship, outstanding project in geometry, best off-the-cuff answers
  • Jenny Rustad:  Merit Fellowship, for deepest insight into a physical problem
  • Radoslav Vouchkov:  for his artistic impact

MASS 2011 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Sean Al-Gattas:  outstanding exam in geometry
  • Anthony Caine:  Merit Fellowship, best analysis exam and outstanding analysis project
  • Eric Canton:  best exam in algebra
  • In Jee Jeong:  Merit Fellowship and best project in analysis
  • James Moody:  Merit Fellowship and outstanding project in geometry
  • Travis Morrison:  Merit Fellowship, outstanding project in geometry and outstanding project in algebra
  • Daniil Rudenko:  Merit Fellowship and best project in geometry

MASS 2010 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Joshua Bonet:  outstanding performance in final exams
  • Andrew Bydlon:  Merit Fellowship and best project in algebra
  • Samantha Fuller:  best final exam in analysis
  • Matthew Hom:  outstanding project in geometry
  • Camila Ramirez:  best project in analysis
  • Yixuan Shi:  outstanding performance in final exams
  • Brandon Warner:  Merit Fellowship
  • William Wright:  Merit Fellowship and best examination in geometry

MASS 2009 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Brandon Hepola:  Merit Fellowship
  • My Huynh:  outstanding performance by a sophomore
  • Alexa Kottmeyer:  outstanding "fractal" performance (2 out of 3)
  • Kaloyan Marinov:  Merit Fellowship
  • Jacob Turner:  Merit Fellowship
  • Kurt Vinhage:  Merit Fellowship, best performance in all exams
  • Haining Wang:  Merit Fellowship
  • Zipeng Wang:  outstanding project in algebra
  • Adam Zydney:  outstanding project in geometry, best project in analysis

MASS 2008 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Charles Baker:  outstanding project in analysis, the most dedicated student
  • Stella Dong:  outstanding progress made in the analysis course
  • Michael Harrison:  best experimental projects
  • Sean Howe:  Merit Fellowship, outstanding project in algebra, outstanding project in analysis
  • Nicole Kroeger:  Merit Fellowship, outstanding project in algebra, outstanding project in geometry
  • Mukherjee Kushal:  outstanding performance in the analysis course
  • Kaloyan Marinov:  outstanding performance in the geometry course
  • Mathew Pancia:  Merit Fellowship
  • Johathan Root:  Merit Fellowship, outstanding project in analysis
  • Jonathan Taylor:  outstanding performance in the analysis course
  • Valentin Zakharevich:  Merit Fellowship, best performance in the analysis exam

MASS 2007 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Dory Deines:  outstanding performance in geometry course
  • Bryan Gillespie:  Merit Fellowship and outstanding performance by the youngest participant
  • Sara Jensen:  outstanding computer project and best project in geometry course
  • Chor Hang Lam:  Merit Fellowship
  • Vincent Martinez:  best examination in mathematical analysis
  • Timur Nezhmetdinov:  Merit Fellowship
  • Matthew Pancia:  Merit Fellowship and best project in algebra course
  • Noopur Pathak:  outstanding project in algebra course
  • Robin Tucker-Drob:  Merit Fellowship and best examination in geometry course

MASS 2006 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Jesse Barbour, St.Edward's University -- Merit fellowship and award for outstanding research project in geometry
  • Arthur Friend, Georgia Institue of Technology -- Merit fellowship and award for the best experimental project
  • Jessica Jou, PennState -- Merit fellowship and outstanding Penn State participant award
  • John Mangual, Princeton University -- Merit fellowship and award for the best research project in geometry
  • Carl Sutherland, PennState -- Merit fellowship and award for outstanding research project in analysis
  • Bogdan Vioreanu, International University(Bremen) -- Merit fellowship and award for the best research project in algebra
  • Daniel Volmar, Berkeley -- Merit fellowship and award for best scholarship
  • Tad Whitenight, PennState -- Merit fellowship

MASS 2005 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Eugene Eyeson, Benedictine University -- Outstanding projects suggested by the student
  • Ki Chul Kim, Dartmouth College -- Excellent performance fellowship,
    Outstanding performance in Analysis course
  • Davide Koslicki, Washington State University -- Excellent performance fellowship,
    Best project in Geometry
  • Sarah Matz, PennState -- Outstanding project in Analysis
  • Karen McCready, The College of New Jersey -- Making most progress overall,
    Outstanding performance in the Analysis exam
  • Aya Mitani, Pitzer College -- Best presentation in Geometry
  • Toan Phan, Northwestern University -- Best overall performance fellowship,
    Best project in Algebra,
    Best project in Analysis
  • Joseph Roberts, PennState -- Excellent performance fellowship
  • Frances Worek, PennState -- Outstanding performance in the Analysis exam

MASS 2004 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Van Cyr, University of Buffalo -- Merit fellowship, outstanding performance in Geometry, outstanding project in Algebra
  • James Krysiak, Alfred University -- Best project in Geometry
  • Jenna Hammang, Valparaiso University -- Merit fellowship
  • Jeremy Heffner, PennState University -- Outstanding project in Algebra
  • Zachary McCoy, Yale University -- Outstanding performance in Geometry
  • A. Naber -- Merit fellowship, best project in Analysis, best performance in Analysis

MASS 2003 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Nathan Collins, University of Oregon -- Merit Fellowship
  • Jeffrey Gin, Central Michigan University -- Most innovative project in Analysis
  • Russel Halper, University of CA, Santa Barbara -- Excellent performance in Analysis
  • Marc Horn, Penn State University -- Best effort Award
  • David Jordan, University of Oregon, Clark Honors College -- Merit Fellowship
  • John Skukalek, Grand Valley State University -- Merit Fellowship
  • Vivek Srikrishnan, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign -- Merit Fellowship
  • Rebecca Swanson, Dakota Wesleyan University -- Merit Fellowship
  • Michael Willis, Penn State University -- Nittany Lion Award

MASS 2002 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Patrick Barrow, North Carolina State University
  • Mark Branson, University of Oklahoma
  • Justin Fitzpatrick, Penn State University
  • Stacey Hubbell, Penn State University
  • Brady McCary, Texas A&M University
  • Michael Rowell, University of San Diego

MASS 2001 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Sharon Chuba, Penn State University
  • Patrick Rault, College of William and Mary
  • Yakov Shapiro, Boston University
  • Braden Soper, UCLA

MASS 2000 AWARD RECIPIENTS

  • Benjamin Chan, University of Rochester
  • Rachel Lash, Alfred University
  • Carmen Lefever, The College of New Jersey
  • Vakhid Masagutov, New Mexico State University
  • Alice Medvedev, University of California Institute of Technology

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS BY MASS PARTICIPANTS OUTSIDE OF MASS

  • Aaron Naber, a Penn  State and MASS 2004 program alumnus, received a 2018 New Horizons in Mathematics Prize: https://breakthroughprize.org/News/41.
  • Patrick Rault (REU and MASS 2001) received the 2015 Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College or University Faculty Member.
  • Loren Anderson (MASS 2014) was awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
  • Kurt Vinhage (MASS 2009) was awarded NSF Post-Doctoral fellowship.
  • Aaron Naber (MASS 2004) gave an invited sectional talk at ICM 2014 in Seoul.
  • Aaron Naber (MASS 2004) and Jared Speck (MASS 1999, REU 2000) received Sloan Research Fellowships for 2014.
  • Alice Medvedev (MASS 2000, REU 2000) gave ASL Invited Address at the 2014 Joint Mathematics Meetings.
  • Andrew Hanlon (MASS 2013, REU 2013) represented Penn State's Eberly College of Science as student marshal at the Fall 2013 commencement.
  • Martin Copenhaver (MASS 2012, REU 2012) was awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and NDSEG Fellowship.
  • Eric Larson (REU 2007) was awarded Hertz Fellowship. He also won the Frank and Brennie Morgan Prize for Outstanding Research in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Student.
  • John Voight (MASS 1998) received an NSF Division of Mathematical Sciences CAREER Award in 2012.
  • X. Faber (MASS 1999, 2000 and REU 1999, 2001) and A. Naber (MASS 2004) were Awarded NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships.
  • G. Mullen's and B. Vioreanu's paper "Explicit formulas for permutation polynomials over finite fields" based on Vioreanu's MASS 2006 research project (class taught by G. Mullen) is published in Bull. Inst. Combin. Appl., 57, 2009, 107-117.
  • N. Pathak's paper "A computational aspect of the Lebesgue differentiation theorem" based on her MASS 2007 research project (supervised by S. Simpson) is published in J. Logic and Analysis, 1, 2009, 1-15.
  • K. Marinov, a MASS 2008 and 2009 participant, was awarded the first Michael Brin MASS Fellowship.
  • John Voight (MASS 1998) received the Selfridge Prize in 2010.
  • E. Larson (REU 2007) won a $100,000 award in 2009 Intel Science Talent Search. Previously he won a $50,000 award in the 2008 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. Eric's paper is co-authored with D. Jordan, a MASS and REU 2003 participant (now at MIT). This summer, Eric won Gold Medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad (Bremen, Germany).
  • A. Friend, MASS 2006, was awarded NSF Graduate Fellowship.
  • J. Holmer, MASS 1996, was awarded Sloan Fellowship.
  • The paper "Isoperimetric inequalities for wave fronts and a generalization of Menzin's conjecture for bicycle monodromy on surfaces of constant curvature" by S. Howe, M. Pancia and V. Zakharevich, based on their REU and MASS 2008 research projects, is posted at arxiv. The paper is accepted for publication in Advances in Geometry.
  • Eric Larson (REU 2007) won a $100,000 award in 2009 Intel Science Talent Search for "The Classification of Certain Fusion Categories". Previously he won a $50,000 award in the 2008 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. Eric's paper on the subject is co-authored with D. Jordan, a MASS and REU 2003 participant (now at MIT).
  • Eric Larson, REU 2007 participant, received a Third-Place AMS Menger Award at the 2008 International Science and Engineering Fair for his work done at the REU. Larson's paper is posted here
  • A paper published in "Analysis and Applications" based on research projects in the MASS 2006 analysis course by A. Bressan
  • Dmitry Vaintrob, (REU 2004) was the winner of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology (prize of $100,000), he won the third place in the Intel Science Talent Search (prize of $50,000) and he received the first-place AMS Menger award (prize of $1,000).
  • Eric Larson, REU 2007 participant, was a member of the USA team at the 48th International Mathematical Olympiad, July 2007, Hanoi, Veitnam, and was awarded a silver medal.
  • Beth Morgan, MASS 2002 participant, is among the first Newton Fellows of the Math for America Program established by Dr. James Simons of Renaissance Technoology Crop. See the article in DAILY NEWS.
  • Rebecca Swanson has won an award at the Undergraduate Poster Session at the Phoenix AMS Conference for her poster Polygonal Ponderings.
  • Yakov Shapiro (Boston University, MASS 2001) was awarded an NSF Graduate Fellowship.
  • Elizabeth Thoren, a MASS 2001 participant, has been chosen as an honorable mention in the competition for the Alice T. Schafer Prize for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics.
  • Patrick Rault (College of William and Mary, REU and MASS 2001) has been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater scholarship.
  • Sharon Chuba (Penn State, REU and MASS 2001) is a winner of the Undergraduate Student Poster Session in San Diego, January 2002.
  • James Kelley (MASS 1998), currently a mathematics graduate student at UC Berkeley, has been awarded a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
  • Jaclyn (Kohles) Anderson (University of Nebraska, Lincoln, MASS 1998) is a winner of the Alice T. Schafer Prize for Excellence in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Woman, 2001.
  • Benjamin Chan (University of Rochester, REU and MASS 2000) is a winner of the Undergraduate Student Poster Session in New Orleans, January 2001. His poster was among three very highly ranked posters.
    • Poster Title: Estimation of the Period of a Simple Continued Fraction
      Advisors: Robert Vaughan, Penn State and Misha Guysinsky, Tufts University
  • James Kelley (MASS 1998) ranked #59 in the 1999 William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition and won an Honorable Mention among individuals.
  • Jaclyn Kohles received an honorable mention in the Alice T. Schafer Prize competition for Excellence in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Woman, 2000.
  • Noah Salvaterra, Brian Wickman, and Jayadev Athreya (MASS 1999) are winners of the Undergraduate Student Poster Session in Washington D.C., January 2000.
    • Noah Salvaterra and Brian Wickman (REU and MASS 1999)
      The Growth of Generalized Diagonals in a Polygonal Billiard
      Advisors: Anatole Katok, Penn State and Misha Guysinsky, Tufts University
    • Jayadev Athreya (MASS 1999) and Lukasz M. Fidkowski
      Number Theoretic Balls in Boxes
      Advisor: Anant Godbole, Michigan State University