Harvard Math Team Clinches Putnam

A team of three undergraduates clinched the first place title at the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, the 28th time a Harvard team has won, the Mathematical Association of America announced last week.

The first place prize consisted of $25,000, and the team members­—Eric K. Larson ’13, Evan M. O’Dorney ’15, and Lin “Alex” Zhai ’12—also each received $1,000. O’Dorney individually placed in the top five, earning him the title of Putnam Fellow and an additional award of $2,500.

“Money doesn’t really make a difference, though,” O’Dorney said. “The things I like can’t be bought with money, like spending time with my family.”

Zhai finished amongst the top 25, and Larson received honorable mention. Allen Yuan ’15 also received an honorable mention.

Administered by the MAA, the Putnam Competition is held annually for the top undergraduate mathematics students in the United States and Canada.

Around 60 Harvard students took the test in December, and the Harvard team is comprised of the three students who scored highest in the previous year’s competition, according to mathematics professor Peter Kronheimer, who proctored the exam this year.

O’Dorney took last year’s Putnam test while still a senior in high school, placing in the top 24. He was invited to compete with the Putnam team from the University of California, Berkeley, after his score topped other students’.

“I don’t know where my math talent comes from—it’s just a gift from God,” said O’Dorney, who is also the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search Competition first place winner and the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.

For this past year’s Putnam competition, O’Dorney said he “had very little time to prepare due to schoolwork.”

“I briefly solved three problems from an old Putnam, and the Putnam day itself was very hectic due to a Glee Club concert that I performed in that night,” O’Dorney said.

O’Dorney said he ran back and forth between the Science Center and Sanders Theater all day in order to attend both Putnam testing sessions and Glee Club rehearsals.

With the exception of 2004, at least one of the five Putnam Fellows has been a Harvard student in every year’s competition since 1990. Harvard has placed first more than any other school in the history of the competition, 18 wins ahead of next-place California Institute of Technology.