Applied Mathematics News

The Department of Mathematics and Physics continued its annual tradition of running a charity bake sale and raised over $350 for the charity Direct Relief. Great job everyone! The math charity bake sale first after Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean in 2017 directly impacting the families of one our Applied Math majors at the time as well as the family of one of the math faculty.

Jay Whitmon (Applied Mathematics ’24) was recognized as one of the 2023 MAA MathFest Undergraduate Student Poster Session Outstanding Posters. Jay’s poster was titled “Information Theory Through Games: Optimizing Shut the Box” and was based on research he completed at Stevenson with Dr. Benjamin Wilson during the Summer Science Scholars Research Program (S3RP). MAA MathFest is a mathematics conference hosted annually in late summer by the Mathematical Association of America.

Applied Mathematics major Jay Whitmon and math faculty Dr. Mark Branson and Dr. Ben Wilson attended MAA MathFest 2023 in Tampa, FL. Every summer, MAA MathFest presents the latest in mathematical research and education to diverse audiences across the nation. Jay presented his summer research project titled “Information Theory Through Games: Optimizing Shut the Box”. Dr. Branson participated in a panel and Dr. Wilson presented a talk on his uses of mastery-based grading in Calculus.

Applied Mathematics major Jay Whitmon is participating in the Summer Science Scholars Research Program (S3RP). He is working 1-on-1 with math faculty Dr. Wilson on research that explores the field of Information Theory through games. Information theory is the scientific study of the quantification and communication of information. One of the most important quantities in information theory is called entropy, which measures the amount of uncertainty in stochastic process. Jay is working on computing the entropy of several games (including “Guess Who”) in order to develop optimal strategies for the games and to code bots to play these games using the optimal strategies.

Congratulations to the all of the graduates earning degrees in Applied Mathematics this year! We are so proud of you and look forward to hearing about all of your future successes! See the full commencement ceremony here.