|
Invited Speakers |
| KEYNOTE SPEAKER: |
| Dr. Jennifer Quinn, Professor of Mathematics |
| Occidental College/University of Puget Sound |
| Executive Director of the Association for Women in Mathematics |
|
Dr. Jennifer Quinn grew up in
Rhode Island. She graduated from Williams College where she studied
mathematics, biology, and theatre. In 1993, she received her PhD in
Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, studying combinatorics
under Richard Brualdi. She has been at Occidental College since.
In 2001, she received the distinguished teaching award from the Southern
California Section of the Mathematical Association of America. In
addition to dozens of papers in combinatorics and graph theory, Dr.
Quinn has co-authored the award winning book, Proofs That Really Count,
with Arthur Benjamin. She and Art are also co-editors of Math Horizons,
a magazine for undergraduates and other math enthusiasts. Dr. Quinn is
currently a Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Puget Sound.
She has recently become the new executive director for the Association
for Women in Mathematics. |
| Dr. Quinn will be giving a talk titled "Proofs That Really Count". |
| ABSTRACT: |
|
Every proof
in this talk reduces to a counting problem---typically enumerated in two
different ways. Counting leads to beautiful, often elementary, and very
concrete proofs. While not necessarily the simplest approach, it offers
another method to gain understanding of mathematical truths. To a
combinatorialist, this kind of proof is the only right one. I have
selected some favorite identities using Fibonacci numbers, binomial
coefficients, Stirling numbers, and more. Hopefully when you encounter
identities in the future, the first question to pop into your mind will
not be "Why is this true?" but "What does this count?" |
| PANELISTS: |
Summer Opportunities for
Undergraduates:
|
Career Opportunities in
Mathematics:
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