The 2024 MAA-SE Section Meeting will feature multiple plenary sessions and distinguished lectures for students including the following speakers.
Distinguished Lectures for Students
Abbey Bourdon – Wake Forest University
Torsion Points of Elliptic Curves
An elliptic curve is a geometric object with an especially rich arithmetic structure. These curves are involved in applications that vary from Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem to secure web browsing, and the challenge of working with them has captured the interest of mathematicians from Weierstrass to Serre. Despite their complexity, elliptic curves and their basic properties may be defined using only high-school algebra, and many important questions can be stated with little additional background. For this reason, they are in a superb position to provide an accessible glimpse of modern mathematics.
This talk will introduce elliptic curves and then focus on questions related to a class of points known as torsion points. No special mathematical background will be required.
About Dr. Bourdon: In 2021, Dr. Bourdon won the MAA Southeastern Section Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College Mathematics Faculty Member. She is dedicated to expanding the breadth of STEM education at Wake Forest, supporting the success of students from underrepresented groups in its programs.
Blayne Carroll – Lee University, MAA-SE Section Lecturer
Beyond 1, 2, 3, …: Counting the Familiar, the Less Familiar, the Strange, and the Impossible
Enumerative combinatorics is a fascinating journey into the realm of counting. In this talk we will review and resolve some common counting problems and visit a few counting problems that are less familiar.
We will begin by revisiting the basics of counting, exploring permutations and combinations in familiar contexts. From there, we will venture into less familiar territory, tackling combinations with repetitions and additional restrictions. We will uncover the beauty and complexity of these counting problems, discussing binomial coefficients, extended binomial coefficients, and their applications.
As we continue to push our understanding of counting techniques, we will encounter enumeration problems that on their surface seem impossible to resolve efficiently. We will explore permutations and combinations with repetitions and restrictions and use the powerful technique of generating functions to unlock their secrets. Through this exploration, we will not only expand our understanding of enumerative combinatorics but also discover its profound implications in various fields.
Join us on this journey as we move beyond 1, 2, 3… delve into the extraordinary world of enumerative combinatorics.
About Dr. Caroll: Blayne Carroll earned a Ph.D. from Emory University in 1995 and has been a Professor of Mathematics at Lee University since 2006. He currently serves as the Chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Lee. Over the last few years Dr. Carroll has led efforts to expand opportunities for students at Lee not only in mathematics, but in other, highly mathematical disciplines like engineering and computer science. His teaching interests span all levels of undergraduate mathematics, but he has a particular passion for Graph Theory, Combinatorics, and proof writing. Dr. Carroll is also heavily involved in educational assessment and development. He plays a significant role in the continuing development of the GRE general exam, ensuring its accuracy and effectiveness in evaluating students’ mathematical abilities. Additionally, Dr. Carroll has been involved in assessment for the AP Calculus program since 2000. He has a life-long dedication to excellence in mathematics and its education.
Plenary Speakers
Richard Cleary – Babson College, MAA Editor of Scatterplot
Connecting Traditional Math to a Modern Application: Discrete Probability and Fraud Detection
The MAA’s new journal Scatterplot (https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/usca20) was created, among other reasons, to encourage mathematicians to explore ways to connect traditional mathematics topics to important modern applications. These connections can help mathematics majors be prepared to enter careers in many fields, particularly data science. In this talk we present an example of this type of connection by discussing applications of Benford’s Law. This is a surprisingly simple discrete probability distribution that has proven to be useful in various fields, particularly accounting. We will get some ‘live data’ on testing a hypothesis with Benford’s Law and discuss how including applications in many of our courses can work to help students with both career readiness and mathematical understanding.
About Dr. Cleary: Professor Rick Cleary is a statistician and mathematician with research and consulting interests in a variety of fields including sports and education. Prior to coming to Babson College in 2013, Professor Cleary taught at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, Cornell University, Bentley University, and Harvard University. He has held leadership positions in the Mathematical Association of America, including six years on the Executive Committee as Associate Treasurer. He currently co-chairs the Upper Division Pathways initiative for TPSE Math. Professor Cleary enjoys working with teachers at all levels to improve statistics education and he gives frequent talks and workshops on ways to encourage statistical thinking. He is active in his Wellesley community as a youth sports coach and through service on school councils and is a fervent March Madness fan.
Duha Hamed – Winthrop University, 2023 MAA-SE Distinguished Teaching Award for Beginning Faculty Member Winner
Fostering a pedagogy of belonging to promote learning in diverse student populations
Nurturing a sense of belonging in the classroom lays a solid groundwork for effective pedagogy. Building connections between teacher and students, as well as among students themselves, is pivotal in fostering this sense of belonging. The term ‘belonging’ embodies my distinctive teaching style, shaped by a blend of personal and professional experiences. Specifically, my participatory learning-based approach cultivates a feeling of belonging among diverse student groups, such as those at Winthrop University, instilling in them the confidence that they genuinely belong. This not only enhances their self-assurance but also empowers them to actively engage with and comprehend mathematics. Additionally, if time permits, I’ll talk about my rewarding experience mentoring students in summer research about generalizing distributions.
About Dr. Hamed: Duha Hamed is an Associate Professor at Winthrop University, where she has taught since August 2016. Dr. Hamed loves teaching, supervising students’ research, helping students overcome their math anxiety, as well as interacting with them through extracurricular events by being the faculty advisor for the math club known as “NERD” (Nu Epsilon Rho Delta). Dr. Hamed primary research interest is the study of generalized statistical distributions. In addition, Dr. Hamed is interested in math/statistics educational research and interdisciplinary research studies. Dr. Hamed is passionate about spreading awareness regarding humanitarian causes including immigrants and refugees’ rights and their integration in society, global peace and solidarity, and advocacy of international students. During her years at Winthrop, she has led and participated in many cultural events on and off campus.
Jeneva Clark – University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2023 MAA-SE Distinguished Teaching Award Winner
Share a Seat. Share a Cup.
The shortest distance between two people is a story. This talk tells stories. They need to be told. Our section was connected to the 1960 arrest of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which we now know to have been a cusp in civil rights history. MAA member Bill Brodie, who was then a math graduate student at Atlanta University, led the student march and the integration of the lunch counters in Rich’s Atlanta Department Store, with Dr. King by his side. The well-dressed and peaceful student activists chanted “Jail! No bail!” as they embraced imprisonment. Our own Bill Brodie traded his freedom for a jail cell bunk he shared with Dr. King for 7 days.
Just months before that famous arrest, Bill Brodie, along with a classmate and 2 faculty from Atlanta University, travelled to the annual MAA-SE meeting, only to be turned away from the conference hotel. In that 1960 moment, our conference organizers had no way to overturn the hotel’s segregation. They also had no idea that they were apologizing to a student who would soon change US history. It’s not too late for us, to learn and to love. Bill Brodie, 89, will join us for an interactive audience Q&A session following this talk.
About Dr. Clark: Dr. Jeneva Clark is a Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Tennessee (UTK). In addition to being the only faculty member in the UTK Math Department who holds a Ph.D. in Education, her experiences teaching in high school, junior college, four-year college, and an R1 institution give her a uniquely extensive perspective on education. In 2019, she received the University of Tennessee College of Arts and Sciences Lecturer Excellence in Teaching Award. Also in 2019, Dr. Clark was nominated for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, an award administered by NSF on behalf of The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Deanna Haunsperger – Carleton College, MAA Polya Speaker
A Glimpse at the Horizon
What do a square-wheeled bicycle, a 17th-century French painting, and the Indiana legislature all have in common? They appear among the many bright stars on the mathematical horizon, or, um, in Math Horizons. Math Horizons, the undergraduate magazine started by the MAA in 1994 publishes articles to introduce students to the world of mathematics outside the classroom. Some of mathematics’ best expositors have written for MH over the years; here is an idiosyncratic tour of the first ten years of Horizons.
About Dr. Haunsperger: A former President of the Mathematical Association of America, Deanna Haunsperger has also served the MAA in numerous ways over the years, including as co-Editor of Math Horizons. She is the 2021 recipient of the Yueh-Gin Gung and Dr. Charles Y. Hu Award for Distinguished Service. She also received the AWM M. Gweneth Humphreys Award for Mentorship of Undergraduate Women, the AWM President’s Award, and was an inaugural AWM Fellow. Dr. Haunsperger is Professor of Mathematics and the John E. Sawyer Professor of Liberal Learning at Carleton College where she has taught for nearly thirty years. She is married to fellow mathematician Steve Kennedy and has two adult children.