2024 Math Department Spring Awards
The University of Kansas mathematics department recently recognized its undergraduate and graduate students and faculty for outstanding academic and teaching achievements.
Three students received plaques from the Kansas Algebra Program for their outstanding contributions to teaching, tutoring and extra duties. Winners were Riley Ferguson, Emmanuel Nwanegbo and Joshua Sutton.
KU's math department annually recognizes outstanding graduate students.
Katheryn Beck 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. Other finalists were Brett Ehrman, Sien Gong, Abraham Pascoe and Sungmin Won.
Trevor Arrigoni 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.
Raneeta Dutta and Sien Gong 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.
Jeremiah Buenger 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.
Debjit Basu, Brett Ehrman and Xiang Xu each received the Charles J. and Mary Pat Himmelberg Graduate Student Award. 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.
The R.D. Brown Award for Undergraduate Excellence was given to Brett Frederickson and Kashif Khan. 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.
Daniel Katz, professor of mathematics, received the G. Baley Price award for Excellence in Teaching, presented 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.
Yannan Shen, associate professor of mathematics was presented with the Morrison Foundation Teaching Award. This award was established in 2008 by the Don and Pat Morrison Foundation to recognize outstanding teaching in mathematics.
Jin Feng and Weizhang Huang, professors 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.
Graduate summer scholarships and research assistantships were awarded to twenty graduate students. Academic year 2024-25 scholarships were awarded to fifty-five undergraduates. Funds for the awards and scholarships are administered through the KU Endowment Association.