Elon's chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon, the nation's premier mathematics honor society, hosted a fun evening of pizza, prizes, and math on Thursday, September 19, 2013.
The event, which saw a total of 46 students and faculty participating, was planned, promoted, and executed by PME’s enthusiastic officers, all of whom are mathematics majors: president Amy Wagoner ’14, vice president Nakhila Mistry ’14, and treasurer Christopher Shill ’14.
As students gathered on the 2nd floor of the Duke building, they were greeted by the PME officers and several faculty from the department of mathematics and statistics. In addition to free pizza, attendees also enjoyed homemade desserts made by mathematics major Erin Strosnider ’14.
The evening also saw students solving math problems and winning prizes. Colleen Brockmyre ’14 placed first in the math trivia contest, winning a $25 Visa gift card, and Alex Zaterka ’17 won the door prize, which was a copy of the wildly popular mathematical card game SET.
The general mood of the evening is best reflected in one student’s commment. He opined, “I’m really glad I came tonight. It made me realize something. I want to take more math classes, starting with Calc 1 next semester.” This sentiment reflects the greater mission of Pi Mu Epsilon to raise high the banner of mathematics across Elon’s campus.
PME’s faculty advisor Chad Awtrey concluded the evening by promoting the honor society’s next event: a special guest lecture by award-winning mathematician Tim Chartier of Davidson College. Chartier will visit Elon on Wednesday, November 13. His talk will begin at 4:00pm in Lakeside 212, preceded by light refreshments starting at 3:30pm. All students and faculty are welcome to attend.
Chartier is an applied mathematician. Some of his research involves ranking webpages, including work on ranking Twitter accounts. He has also ranked sports teams which includes the creation of mathematically-generated brackets for the NCAA basketball tournament March Madness. In addition, Chartier is a professional mime, having studied with Marcel Marceau. His visit to Elon this November will include a sample presentation from his nationally renowned Mime-matics show, which explores mathematical ideas through the art of mime.