Mathday

The fourteenth annual Mathday will be held on the campus of the University of Washington on March 22, 2004. On that day 1200 high school students and teachers from around the state will attend lectures and panel discussions, participate in hands-on activities, and go on field trips to labs on the campus. This year the plenary speaker will be Craig Hogan, Vice Provost for Research, and Professor of Physics and Astronomy; he will speak on ``The Beginning of Space and Time.'' Guest lecturers will include Millie Johnson (Mathematics, WWU); Cliff Mass (Astronomy, UW); Carl Bergstrom (Biology, UW); Peter Hoff (Statistics, UW); Sara Billey, Sándor Kovács, Rekha Thomas, and Zack Treisman (Mathematics, UW).

The first Mathday was held in 1991. Students come from all over the state of Washington, and in recent years we have had representatives from Idaho, as well. In 2003 there were more than twenty activities and field trips, and lectures on topics ranging from weather forecasting to the traveling salesman problem to the physics of the internet.

Undergraduate students, graduate students, staff, and faculty all contribute to the success of this exciting, educational day in which students learn about the uses of mathematics in academic research and industrial research and development. Mathday has been partially supported by donations from George Kauffman and two anonymous donors.

Visit the Mathday website.

Jim Morrow