Scholarship and Award Recipients 2022

Charles Wexler Teaching Award

Endowed by Helen and Jonathan D. Wexler

Lecturer

Joined ASU in 20xx
PhD xxx
Born in xxx
Raised in xxx

Why did you originally decide to study mathematics, and then decide to teach it at the university level?
xxxxx

What is something you learned while at ASU that surprised you, that changed your perspective?
xxxxx

What is your favorite course to teach, and why?
xxxxx

Outstanding Instruction and Service Award

Supported by the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences

Senior Lecturer

Joined ASU in 20xx
Master of Education, xxx
Born in xxx
Raised in xxx

Why did you originally decide to study mathematics, and then decide to teach it at the university level?
xxxxx

What do you like most about teaching mathematics?
xxxxx

Outstanding Instruction and Service Award

Supported by the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences

Senior Lecturer

Joined ASU in XXXX
Master of Mathematics, xxx
Born in xxx
Raised in xxxx

Why did you originally decide to study mathematics, and then decide to teach it at the university level?
xxxxx

What is something you learned while at ASU that surprised you, that changed your perspective?
xxxxx

Michelle Howe Staff Award for Outstanding Service

Supported by the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences

Student Services. xxxxxx

Joined ASU in 20xx
Born in xx
Raised in xx

What does receiving the Michelle Howe Staff Award for Outstanding Service mean to you?
xxxxx

Sun Devil Awards for Service

40 years
John Quigg

35 years
Rosemary Renaut

30 years
Nancy Childress

25 years
Donald Jones

20 years
Dongrin Kim
Leslie Loy
Diane Richardson

15 years
Susanna Fishel

Sun Devil Awards for Service

10 years
Brett Kotschwar
Rehn Kovacic
Julien Paupert
Erin Stephens

5 years
Frank Arthur
Steven Brownstein
John Fricks
Luis Gutierrez
Robert McCulloch
Pei Zhang

Graduate Research Award

Supported by the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences

2021 PhD in Applied Mathematics
BS Mathematics and Physics
Arizona State University
Born and raised in Quy Nhon, Vietnam

What do you like most about mathematics?
Mathematical biology! Combining mathematical theories and models with experimental and clinical data to help improve our understanding of the fundamentals of certain biological systems. It has many implications in the real world, such as improving public health and personalized medicines.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to those still in school?
Know what it is that you want (after graduation) and work toward it, but stay flexible

Graduate Research Award

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

Supported by the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences

2021 PhD in Mathematics
BS Theoretical Mathematics
Minor in Statistics
The Ohio State University
Born in Columbus,OH
Raised in Cary, NC

Which professor taught you the most important lesson while at ASU?
I remember being anxious before a meeting with my advisor, Dr. Julien Paupert, because I had not made any progress on my research during the week. When I told Julien, he said something along the lines of “that’s fine, these sort of weeks will happen.” He taught me that progress is very seldom linear, and it is okay to have weeks where you start and end in the same position.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to those still in school?
Read and research everything you can. Not just familiar subjects, but topics outside of your normal interests. I compare a person researching various subjects to a musician listening to a variety of artists. In either case, listening to a myriad of different voices is an excellent way to find your own.

Dennis Young Graduate and Early Scholar Statistics Award

Endowed by Dennis Young and friends

Working toward PhD in Statistics
Master’s degree
Renmin University of China, Beijing
Born and raised in Shanxi, China

Why did you choose ASU for your graduate studies?
Honestly, I chose ASU because my girlfriend was studying here. Luckily, she is my wife now.

What was your “aha” moment, when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in?
When I was reading a book named ‘The lady tasting tea’, I was shocked and realized how interesting and useful that statistics is. What is the best piece of advice you would give to those still in school? Do not waste your time in school, try your best to fulfill your dream.

If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?
Give everyone an opportunity to study in a university.

Floyd L. Downs Teaching of Mathematics Fellowship Award

Endowed by Floyd L. Downs and Elizabeth Lenci-Downs

Compassion and Empowerment Award

Supported by President's Professor Matthias Kawski

2021 PhD in Mathematics Education
MA Mathematics
BA Mathematics and Philosophy
Mills College, Oakland, CA
Born and raised in Castro Valley, CA

What do you think is most misunderstood about math by the general public?
A lot of people think that math is just a series of procedures and symbol manipulation exercises. This is a shame, since math is much more interesting than that. I think a lot of people who have great potential in math think of themselves as “bad at math” due to this misconception.

What is something you learned while at ASU that surprised you, that changed your perspective?
There are a lot of implicit mathematical norms and expectations that students are unaware of, and instructors are often aware that students are unaware of them. I think that, as mathematicians, we become so ingrained in the mathematical culture that we sometimes forget what it feels like to be brand new to the field. While this doesn’t exactly surprise me, I am gaining increasing appreciation for this disconnect. For example, one thing I have confirmed in my research is that mathematicians read equations of the form “a=b=c” as “a=b and b=c, so therefore a=c” where the “punchline” is “a=c”. I recently discovered that some students are unaware of this norm and instead use “a=b=c” to mean “a=b and therefore b=c” where the “punchline” is “b=c”. 

Floyd L. Downs Teaching of Mathematics Fellowship Award

Endowed by Floyd L. Downs and Elizabeth Lenci-Downs

Working toward PhD in Applied Mathematics
MA Applied Mathematics
BS Mathematics and Physics
University of Illinois at Chicago, IL
Born in Kurala, Baitadi, Nepal
Raised in Chatakpur, Kailali, Nepal

What do you like most about mathematics?
I love that we seek to answer pressing questions in diseases, such as covid and malaria. Plus, It is nice that we can do it all while not being anywhere near an actual laboratory.

What do you think is most misunderstood about math by the general public?
That you have to be a “math person” to be good at math. People do not just wake up one day and become good at math. It takes a lot of time and training to be good at math, just like it does it be good at soccer, acting, video games, or virtually anything. If someone is good at math, it most likely means they have had good training in math at some point in their life. Having said that, I think it is never too late to get started with learning mathematics. I think given enough time anyone can learn mathematics.

Floyd L. Downs Teaching of Mathematics Fellowship Award

Endowed by Floyd L. Downs and Elizabeth Lenci-Downs

Working toward PhD in Mathematics Education
BS Mathematics
Western Illinois University
Born and raised in Altoona, IA

What was your “aha” moment, when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in?
My aha moment occurred during my student teaching experience. There I quickly realized that students were not developing a conceptual understanding of the mathematics they were learning. I became interested in investigating mechanisms for advancing students’ understanding and quickly realized to do so, I would need to impact teachers’ understanding first.

What do you like most about mathematics education?
The challenge of helping others develop coherent mathematical understandings.

What is something you learned while at ASU that surprised you, that changed your perspective?
While at ASU I have learned to take water everywhere. This Arizona heat is no joke! Definitely changed my perspective on what summer weather is!

Robert G. Maule Excellence in Teaching Mathematics Award 

Endowed by Elaine Maule

Working toward PhD in Applied Mathematics
Master’s degree Applied Mathematics
Northeastern Illinois University
Master’s degree Secondary Education
Lewis University, Romeoville, IL
Born and raised in Bousalem Tunisia, Africa

What is something you learned while at ASU that surprised you, that  changed your perspective?
While taking numerical linear algebra with Dr. Malena Español, I was surprised to learn how fundamental this field is to so many disciplines. This changed my research method from mathematical modelling in biology (SIR, SEIR type) to inverse problems.

What do you like most about mathematics?
We live in a divided world on many levels. However, using applied mathematics has the power to take abstract concepts and apply them to real life problems in order to solve and advance science world wide.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to those still in school?
No pain, no gain ... doing research is not easy, so try to find a balance between school, work and personal life.

Charles Wexler Mathematics Prize

Endowed by Jonathan D. Wexler

Senior
BS Mathematics
Minor in Spanish
Born and raised in Phoenix, AZ

What’s something you learned while at ASU that surprised you, that changed your perspective?
My half-semester (thanks to the pandemic) of studying abroad in Mexico City was one of the most eye-opening experiences I had studying math. As all of my math classes were given in Spanish, I was able to truly test my skills in math but also my Spanish fluency. What I took away from this experience was understanding the universality of mathematics. Language and geographic boundaries had no effect on the mathematical aptitude of the friends I made while abroad. I gained a much wider perspective of math in an international context.

What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to those still in school?
Don't be afraid to reach out for help, whether that be to friends, professors, advisors, tutoring centers, etc. Asking for help is by no means an admission of weakness or stupidity. Sometimes a different person's perspective or understanding of a topic may sync better with how you learn. 

Dean's Medal

Supported by The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Senior
BS Mathematics
Certificate in Cryptology
Born and raised in Phoenix, AZ

What’s something you learned while at ASU that surprised you, that changed your perspective?
Sometimes it seems like people think experts are born experts, but nobody is. It’s clear to me that my professors have worked very hard to become who they are. And even they occasionally must re-derive a result they forgot, so nobody should be intimidated by not understanding something.

What was your “aha” moment, when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in?
There were two “aha” moments. The first one was when I was in 5th grade. I was enjoying learning how to program computers, and somehow everything I was learning was teaching me how to think like a mathematician as well. The second “aha” moment was when I was taking Mathematical Structures with Dr. Childress during my freshman year. The name of the class seemed vague enough that I had no expectations for what I would learn. Everything surprised me, and gave me a new perspective on what mathematics actually is. This class embodied the parts of mathematics that before I didn’t realize were the parts I liked!

Jack H. Hawes Memorial Mathematics Research Scholarship

Endowed by Sandra Baldwin

Sophomore
BS Mathematics
Born in Scottsdale, AZ
Raised in Phoenix, AZ

What was your “aha” moment, when you realized you wanted to study math?
After trying other fields heavy in math like engineering and physics I realized I wanted to study math for the sake of more math. Any field that’s impacted by my studies is a happy coincidence. That’s when I made the switch.

What is something you learned while at ASU that surprised you, that changed your perspective?
Not every professor knows what’s best for you and is pushing you to succeed. You need to make the calls, yourself. Stay close to the ones who drive you forward and brush off the ones holding you back.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to those still in school?
Keep going – and remember, universities are valuable, but not more valuable than your own health.

Ioana Elise Hociota!!! Memorial Mathematics Scholarship

Endowed by Andrew Holycross and friends

Senior
BS Mathematics
Born in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico
Raised in Phoenix, AZ

Which professor taught you the most important lesson while at ASU?
Professor Jack Spielberg taught me that although I have been so proficient in math in the past, there is still a lot to learn, and asking for help is not always easy but it can be necessary. He also taught me that there is nothing wrong with asking for help, and that the only person who will speak up for myself is me. It was a tough lesson, but it helped me get through many of my math courses.  

What is the best piece of advice you would give to those still in school?
I would advise everyone to take advantage of the services on campus: tutoring, instructors, career advising, resume building, clubs, and more! They are all conveniently located on campus and there is even help online for most.

What was your favorite spot on campus, whether for studying, meeting friends or just thinking about life?
I love the basement of the Memorial Union building since everyone can enjoy themselves with games, take a quick lunch break, or even study.