Here are some contributions from former North Carolina students. If you are an alum and would like to contribute an article on the impact of math on your life, please contact Jake Ng at jng@email.unc.edu.
Dan Cory
Dan Cory graduated from NCSSM in 1989, by way of Phillips Junior High and Chapel Hill High. He received his BS degree in mathematics from Stanford University in 1993. Dan is now Program Manager for mapping software at Microsoft in Redmond, WA and recently helped ship both Excel 97 and Expedia Streets 98.
Dan participated in a range of math contests from sixth grade on. Highlights include: individual winner at ARML (American Regions Mathematics League) in 1987, two trips to the training program for the International Math Olympiad, five years placing at the NC State Math Contest, and was part of the first NCSSM team to win an Outstanding in the National Mathematics Contest in Modeling. Dan also founded modeling teams at Stanford and the University of Redlands, and has served as assistant coach, scorer, and problem reviewer for MathCounts. He also contributed many of the solutions to the NC State Math Contest book.
Here's what Dan has to say.
Jeff VanderKam
Jeff VanderKam attended Broughton High School from 1986 to 1988 and graduated from NCSSM in 1990. While at Ligon Middle School, he took second place in the national MathCounts competition. Jeff won the NC State Math Contest twice, and in 1988, took second place at ARML. He wrote a perfect paper on the AHSME in 1990. A two-time USAMO winner, he won a silver medal at the IMO in 1989, and a gold medal the following year. Jeff graduated first in his class from Duke University in 1994. A Putnam fellow in 1992, he was in the top ten on the Putnam in 1990 and 1991, and was on the Putnam-winning Duke team in 1993. Winner of the NSF, DoD, and Hertz fellowships for graduate school, Jeff is presently studying analytic number theory under Professor Peter Sarnak at Princeton University. He and his wife Susan now have a daughter, Kathleen Elizabeth VanderKam, born on March 10, 1998.
Here are Jeff's thoughts on math and his work.
Ashley Reiter
Ashley Reiter graduated from NCSSM in 1991. While at Charlotte Latin, she placed third in the national MathCounts competition. In 1988, she won a Golden Eagle award from the American Academy of Achievement. The following year, she placed third in the NC State Math Contest. At NCSSM, she was president of the math club. She founded Math Matters, the precursor of this newsletter. She is also a chemistry whiz, winning a bronze medal at the International Chemistry Olympiad. In 1991, she placed first in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, and was on the USA-Today All USA High School Academic First Team.
Ashley graduated summa cum laude in mathematics from Rice University in 1995, and received her MS degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago the following year. Her specialty is geometric group theory. In summer 1997, she was assistant director of the Research Science Institute. She is presently on leave of absence from the University of Chicago Ph.D. program, working as a mathematics instructor at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics.
Here are Ashley's thoughts on how math has affected her life.
Lenny Ng
Lenny Ng, better known as Jake Ng's brother, graduated (valedictorian) from Chapel Hill High in 1993. While at Phillips Junior High, he led the NC team to the national MathCounts title. He was the only pre-high school student ever to win the NC State Math Contest. He set a record by writing four consecutive perfect papers on the AHSME (and two perfect papers on the AIME). Recipient of the Greitzer-Klamkin award, he was a three-time USAMO winner and a two-time IMO gold medalist. In 1993, he placed third in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search.
Lenny graduated summa cum laude in mathematics and physics from Harvard in 1996. In all three years at Harvard, he was named a Putnam fellow. In his senior year, he was one of two students honored by AMS/MAA/SIAM for excellence in math research as an undergraduate, and he won first prize in the Boston Area Undergraduate Physics Competition. Lenny is a graduate student in math at MIT, studying differential geometry and gauge theory. Unfortunately, Lenny's basketball skills need major work.
Here are excerpts from an invited talk at Harvard by Lenny in the spring of 1994 (reprinted in Roeper Review, vol. 17, December 1994). The first and last paragraphs are included due to the indulgence of the editor.
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