Harvard Sweeps Math Contest

Fourteen Harvard undergraduates were honored last night at a dinner at the Fogg Museum of Art for the winners of the Fifty-Eighth Annual William Putnam Mathematical Competition.

Harvard students swept the 12-question exam last December, taking four of the six "Fellows" awards, which carry a $2,500 scholarship for high individual scores, and capturing a total of fourteen out of the top 58 individual scores.

In addition, the official, three-student Harvard team, composed of Samuel Grushevsky '99, Dragos N. Oprea '00 and Stephen S. Wang '98, placed first in the nation, beating out Duke, Princeton and MIT and bringing a $25,000 prize to the Harvard Math Department.

"[Math competitions] are fun. They're fun to take," said Putnam Fellow Michael L. Develin '00. "There are all these pathetic people who took math exams in high school [such as the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) and want to relive those glory days."

Because Harvard has won the competition for eight of the past ten years, "there's a winning tradition [at Harvard]," said Oprea, who was among the top 15 scorers nationwide this year.

After losing last year to Duke University, Harvard's victory reaffirms that tradition, he said.

Harvard traditionally chooses its three-person team based on students' individual scores from the previous year, so first-years and students who did not score very highly the previous year sometimes score higher than students who are actually on the team.

Because of this, "in the two years in the past six where we didn't win, we would've won if we had picked a different team," said Professor of Mathematics Clifford H. Taubes.

"The credit is due entirely to the students," as the Mathematics Department does not run formal preparatory sessions or classes, he said.

It was not until the last decade that Harvard began winning so predictably, Taubes said.

"We've had a remarkable attraction to remarkable students," he explained. "We've created an atmosphere that attracts students. The faculty are trying desperately not to screw it up."

The exam began in 1938 when the Mathematical Association of America took over the responsibility for carrying out what was the brainchild of William Lowell Putnam, Harvard class of 1882. This year, 2,510 students from 419 colleges and universities devoted a Saturday to the six-hour exam, on which fewpeople score any points.

According to Taubes, about sixty Harvardstudents took the exam this year, but, saidDevelin, anyone who is interested in math shouldattempt the Putnam.

"I think a lot of people are more scared by[math] than they should be," he said. "They feelmath is something they have to deal with, butthere's a lot of beautiful structure that peopledon't see."

In particular, Develin says the Putnam presentsproblems on introductory material, includingcalculus and group theory, as well as"self-contained questions" on "the body ofmathematical lore commonly discussed inmathematics clubs or in courses with such titlesas 'survey of the foundations of mathematics."

"There are two or three out of twelve withquick solutions, but [to solve] the rest you haveto put stuff together," he said.

The Putnam is the only national mathematicscompetition for undergraduates, Taubes said,whereas high school students can take any of alitany of exams, the most prestigious of which isthe IMO.

Wang, who has taken the Putnam for the pastfour years and participated in other mathematicscompetitions in high school, said the Putnamcompetition seems peculiar in its system ofgrading.

"Each problem is graded out of ten [points],but you never see any scores between two andeight," he said. "Since you never get your testback, you never know what's going on."

Students also remarked that the Putnam does notcreate the same sort of competitive atmosphere ashigh school competitions.

"As opposed to the Olympiad, the Putnam [exam]doesn't put any pressure on anybody," Oprea said

According to Taubes, about sixty Harvardstudents took the exam this year, but, saidDevelin, anyone who is interested in math shouldattempt the Putnam.

"I think a lot of people are more scared by[math] than they should be," he said. "They feelmath is something they have to deal with, butthere's a lot of beautiful structure that peopledon't see."

In particular, Develin says the Putnam presentsproblems on introductory material, includingcalculus and group theory, as well as"self-contained questions" on "the body ofmathematical lore commonly discussed inmathematics clubs or in courses with such titlesas 'survey of the foundations of mathematics."

"There are two or three out of twelve withquick solutions, but [to solve] the rest you haveto put stuff together," he said.

The Putnam is the only national mathematicscompetition for undergraduates, Taubes said,whereas high school students can take any of alitany of exams, the most prestigious of which isthe IMO.

Wang, who has taken the Putnam for the pastfour years and participated in other mathematicscompetitions in high school, said the Putnamcompetition seems peculiar in its system ofgrading.

"Each problem is graded out of ten [points],but you never see any scores between two andeight," he said. "Since you never get your testback, you never know what's going on."

Students also remarked that the Putnam does notcreate the same sort of competitive atmosphere ashigh school competitions.

"As opposed to the Olympiad, the Putnam [exam]doesn't put any pressure on anybody," Oprea said