Academics > Majors and Areas of Study > Mathematics and Computer Science > Past Commendations



To see Past Commendations for previous years, click on the desired year:
1999   2000   2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2006   2007

2008
Jan  Feb  Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec

January 2008 Thiel Students Compete in the Putnam Mathematical Competition The 68th Annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition was held on December 1, 2007. The exam is open to enrolled undergraduate students in U.S. and Canada who have not yet received a college degree. Six Thiel students took the exam. For most of our students, the exam was their first attempt in the competition. Students are not eligible to take the exam if they have already taken it four times. Our student competitors included (top row, L to R:) Yoshitaka Homma, Hirotaka Amano, Patrick Mitch, (bottom row, L to R:) Angela Crone, Kari Zeleznick, and Mark Thomson (not pictured). Dr. Jeonghun Kim (top row, at right) worked with students to prepare them for the exam by offering a seminar every week during the Fall 2007 semester. The exam is divided into two parts. Six questions are assigned for each part for three hours (totalling 12 questions for 6 hours). It is considered one of the hardest exams in the world. Students will not receive the results of the exam until the end of March 2008. However, we commend the students for their participation regardless of their scores. Dr. Kim expects some new students as well as our current participants to take the exam next fall, and plans to offer preparation seminars again for all students interested in mathematics or the competition. Top

February 2008 Streamlining Sports Information at Thiel This month, we commend senior Eric Wadowsky for his work as a Sports Information Intern for the Thiel Athletics department.  Eric, a web development and e-commerce major, is the son of Michael Wadowsky and attended Langley High School in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.   He began his internship with the Athletics department under the supervision of Kevin Fenstermacher, Assistant Athletics Director and Sports Information Director, in the fall of 2007.  Last fall, Eric worked on creating a database of athletes to keep track of player statistics and year-by-year eligibility.  He also worked on designing player profile web pages for the Athletics section of the Thiel web site.  Because of his great work on the job in his fall semester, Eric was asked back to continue his internship this spring.  This semester, he is working on updating the player profile pages and other Athletics web pages so that they dynamically pull information out of the athletes database that he created.  This will allow the player profile pages to include player information, photographs, stats, and links to any athletic news stories mentioning the player.   It will also help to streamline the process of making updates to the Athletics pages for the staff in the department.  They will be able to enter new updates and stories for the site through a web form and have it automatically update the database and the pages on the web site. Eric has been able to use many of his database and web development skills as part of this internship experience.   He states, “ I would like to thank both Kevin Fenstermacher and Professor Pinchot for the help and guidance that they have both given me during my internship.  It has been great to work with Kevin to improve the quality of the Athletics portion of the Thiel site.  And Professor Pinchot has been a great help when I have had questions about specifics of what to do concerning the projects at hand.  I would like to thank them both for making the internship experience both enjoyable and very educational.” Eric feels that in addition to getting some real world experience, another benefit has been learning to work with a supervisor and coworkers in a collaborative way in order to create a project.  His favorite part of the internship so far has been “the experience of having something specific to create, while also having some free range and room for creativity.” Look for Eric’s work on the Athletic pages of the Thiel web site to be available at the end of this semester.  We congratulate Eric on his great work and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Top

March 2008 Kappa Mu Epsilon Inducts New Members On Sunday, March 30, 2008, eleven new members were initiated into the Pennsylvania Rho Chapter of Kappa Mu Epsilon at Thiel College, Greenville, PA.  Professor Max Shellenbarger, faculty sponsor, and Angela Crone, current President, served as the Masters of Ceremony.  Dr. John Nichols gave a talk about the process he went through as a student to decide on a career as a Professor of Mathematics.  The members were then initiated and the new officers inducted. Kappa Mu Epsilon is a specialized honor society in Mathematics. KME was founded in 1931 to promote the interest of mathematics among undergraduate students. Its chapters are located in colleges and universities of recognized standing which offer a strong mathematics major. The chapters' members are selected from students of mathematics and other closely related fields who have maintained standards of scholarship, have professional merit, and have attained academic distinction. The society has grown steadily since its founding and today has one hundred eighteen chapters and approximately sixty-one thousand members in thirty-four states. The new members are pictured at left.  From bottom to top are Devin Todd, Syrell Rodriguez Carreras, Haley Prickard, Amanda Hawkins, Patrick Mitch, and Professor Andrew Grover.  Also initiated but not present were Professor Jennifer J. Curry, Michael Johnson, Elise Moore, Laura Wise, and Dr. Jie Wu. Current Kappa Mu Epsilon members in attendance joined with the new inductees in the photo to the right.  In the bottom row (from left to right) are Devin Todd and Punit Upadhyaya.  In the second row (from left to right)are Syrell Rodriguez Carreras, Haley Prickard, Kari Zeleznick, Angela Crone, and Cassandra Beck. In the top row (from left to right) are Patrick Mitch, Amanda Hawkins, Professor Andrew Grover, Michael Ryan, and Kaitlyn Scherer. Newly elected officers are: Angela Crone, president, Kaitlyn Scherer, vice president, Michael Ryan, recording secretary and Cassandra Beck, treasurer. Top

April 2008 Thiel Competes at the CMU Spring Programming Contest This month, we commend five students from the department for their participation in the 2008 Carnegie Mellon Spring Programming Contest. The contest was held on March 29, 2008 at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, PA.   Two teams from Thiel competed in the competition, led by coach Professor Andrew Grover.  The contest consisted of twelve difficult programming problems and lasted for five grueling hours. The Thiel teams competed against other college and university teams from the greater Pittsburgh area. Team “Knit one” consisted of Nick Matviko, Patrick Mitch, and Laura Betz and this team successfully solved two problems out of the twelve presented.  Team “Perl two” included Nicholas Wamaani and Adam Toohey, who successfully solved one of the problems.  This spring event was designed by CMU to allow those who have never previously competed in a formal programming contest to gain exposure to the excitement of competition.   Both teams were able to gain valuable skills at this event, which they will take with them to their next intercollegiate programming competition.  We commend these students for their hard work and dedication.  Great job, teams! Top

May 2008 Congratulations Scholarship Winners! This month, the department would like to commend three outstanding students who are the recipients of mathematics-related scholarships for the 2008-2009 school year. The George and Magdalene Skegas Scholarship for Mathematics was established by Karolyn Skegas Krial ('43) in memory of her parents. The winner of this award for 2008-2009 is Angela Crone, a mathematics major who is also pursuing secondary education certification.  Angela is the daughter of Kelly and Julia Crone of Dover, PA.  She graduated from Dover Area High School in Dover, PA, and would like to thank her high school teachers, stating, “I had wonderful teachers in high school who encouraged me to do well in mathematics and always to try my hardest.”  Angela would also like to thank her professors in the Education Department at Thiel, who have taught her, in her own words, “the skills required to become a better intentional teacher.”  In addition, Angela would like to thank her parents who have always been an inspiration to her.  She states, “My mother and father have always been behind me 100%.  They are proud of everything I do and have faith in my abilities even when I don’t.”  After graduation in the spring of 2009, Angela plans to pursue a teaching career in secondary education and also attend graduate school. The Nathan Warren Harter and Besse Roseberry Harter Scholarship was established as a memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Harter to encourage Thiel students in the study of mathematics or Latin. This award for the 2008-2009 academic year goes to Michael Ryan, a mathematics major who is also pursuing secondary education certification.  He graduated from Karns City Area High School in Karns City, PA.  Michael credits his high school geometry and calculus teachers for helping him along the path to success, stating, “They gave me the inspiration to want to become involved in teaching mathematics for my future career.”  He goes on to state, “Also, I always have to thank my family who is always there supporting in anything I am striving to accomplish.”  Michael is the son of Russ and Cathy Ryan of Petrolia, PA.   After graduation in the spring of 2009, he plans to pursue a teaching career in secondary education.  He also plans to attend graduate school and hopes one day to teach mathematics at the college level. The Nelson P. Yeardley Mathematics Scholarship was established in recognition of Dr. Nelson P. Yearley’s professional contribution to Thiel College in the field of mathematics. This award for the 2008-2009 academic year goes to Patrick Mitch, who is a double major in mathematics and actuarial studies.  Patrick graduated from Leechburg High School in Leechburg, PA.  He is the son of Peter Mitch and Kelly Santarlasci and the step-son of Scott Santarlasci.  Patrick states, “I would love to thank all my math professors at Thiel; I seriously think they do a very good job and they are all passionate about mathematics.  Specifically, I would like to thank Dr. Kim because I am always in his office either doing math or just hanging out.  Plus, he is helping me with my independent studies this summer in Set Theory and Real Infinite Series.”  Right now, Patrick is seriously considering graduate school after graduation in 2010, but he may also choose to go into the actuarial studies field. Top