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St. Olaf student wins national math award

By Kari VanDerVeen
August 21, 2008

Katie Evans '09 won top honors for a presentation of her research at the Mathematical Association of America's recent national meeting in Madison, Wis.

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Evans received the award of excellence for undergraduates for her presentation, titled "Permutations and Permutation Tableaux." Her speech laid out the results of research she performed last summer with St. Olaf students Christina Koch '09 and Molly Schaus '08 under the guidance of Assistant Professor of Mathematics Tina Garrett. The research was done in a branch of mathematics called combinatorics and focused on very common combinatorial objects called permutations and a new combinatorial object called permutation tableaux.

More than 100 undergraduate researchers gave presentations at this year's MathFest gathering, and Evans was one of just a handful of students to be honored for their work. Other winners included students from Williams College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley. "Katie represented St. Olaf well and put us in good company on the national scene," Garrett says.

In order to present at MathFest, undergraduate students need to apply by submitting a paper they have written. The research Evans performed last summer was her first research experience, and this was the first research paper she has put together. Yet she says Garrett prepared her well and she felt confident in giving her presentation at MathFest. "There were so many great talks that weekend that it was an honor for me to win," Evans says.

The award includes a $100 prize. Evans, of St. Charles, Ill., is a math major who is working toward her education license. She will be student teaching this fall at Bloomington Kennedy High School in Bloomington, Minn.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.