2022 ~ 2023

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Kayla Kippes

Honors Theses*

• Kayla Kippes – Using a Distributive Approach to Model Insurance Loss (under Dr. Denhere)

*You can find a list of recent honors recipients here.

2021 ~ 2022

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Caitlin Holt

Undergraduate Publications

• Amy Creel, Analytical Solution of the Model for HIV-1 Dynamics, SIAM Undergraduate Research Online Journal, Vol. 14, pp 567 – 584, 2021 (under Dr. Lee)

Shenandoah Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics Conference at James Madison University (December 4, 2021)

Paper Presentation

• Caitlin Holt – A Numerical Study of the SEIQR Model for COVID-19 (under Dr. Lee)

Honors Theses*

• Rory Black – Adjusting Environmental Performance Index Scores to Account for Gross National Income (under Dr. Hydorn)
• Timothy Corbett – Einstein’s Equation, Lagrangians for General Relativity, and the ADM Formalism (under Dr. Chiang)
• Caitlin Holt – A Numerical Study of the SEIQR Model for COVID-19 (under Dr. Lee)
• Lynn Sherman – ElGamal Encryption in the General Linear Groups (under Dr. Helmstutler)

2020 ~ 2021

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Paige Beidelman

Colgate W. Darden Award (given to the graduating senior(s) with the highest GPA)

• Margaret Gregory and Katherine Safian

Honors Theses

• Paige Beidelman – Game Chromatic Number on Segmented Caterpillars (under Dr. Collins)
• Makayla Ferrell – Simulations of an Attack on RSA (under Dr. Helmstutler)
• Brandon Williams – Parameter Estimation in Nonlinear Regression: Exploring Confidence Intervals for Estimated Coefficients (under Dr. Hydorn)

2019 ~ 2020

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Amy Creel

Colgate W. Darden Award (given to the graduating senior(s) with the highest GPA)

• Hannah Frederick

Undergraduate Publications

• Emily MacIndoe, Analytical Solutions of the Susceptible-Infected-Virus (SIV) Model, SIAM Undergraduate Research Online Journal, Vol. 12, pp 154 – 166, 2019 (under Dr. Lee)

Honors Theses

• Abigail Bernhardt  – Markov Chain Model for the Spread of an Epidemic (under Dr. Esunge)
• Amy Creel – The Model for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Dynamics (under Dr. Lee)
• Hannah Frederick – Conjugation by Circulant Matrices in Non-commutative Cryptography (under Dr. Helmstutler)
• Ashley Scurlock – Anticommutative Associative Algebras and the Binomial Theorem (under Dr. Collins)
• Stephen Tivenan – Exploration of Solvable Quintic Polynomials (under Dr. Lehman)

2018 ~ 2019

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Emily MacIndoe

Colgate W. Darden Award (given to the graduating senior(s) with the highest GPA)

• Emily MacIndoe
• Hollis Pultz

Undergraduate Publications

• Ray Dambrose, Algorithms to Approximate Solutions of Poisson’s Equation in Three Dimensions, Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal, Vol. 20, Iss. 1, Article 2, 2019 (under Dr. Lee)

Honors Theses

• Riley Anderson  – Improving Bertini 2.0: Classifying Singular Polynomials with Machine Learning (under Dr. Collins)
• Makenzie Clower – Predicting Parameters for Bertini Using Neural Networks (under Dr. Collins)
• Emily MacIndoe – Analysis of Deterministic and Stochastic HIV Models (under Dr. Lee)

Shenandoah Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics Conference at James Madison University (October 13, 2018)

Paper Presentation

• Riley Anderson – Implementing Machine Learning to Improve Bertini 2.0 (under Dr. Collins)

Poster Presentation

• Makenzie Clower – Predicting Parameters for Bertini Using Neural Networks (under Dr. Collins)
• Amy Creel – A Numerical Analysis of the SIV Model for HIV Infection (under Dr. Lee)

2017 ~ 2018

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Shannon Haley

Honors Theses

• Henry Darron – An Analysis of Performance Measures of the Schooner Zodiac (under Dr. Chiang)
• Shannon Haley – Non-commutative Massey-Omura Encryption with Symmetric Groups (under Dr. Helmstutler)
• Bailey Stewart – Non-commutative Zero-Knowledge protocols (under Dr. Helmstutler)

2016 ~ 2017

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Rachelle Dambrose

Colgate W. Darden Award (given to the graduating senior(s) with the highest GPA)

• Rachelle Dambrose

Honors Theses

• Rachelle Dambrose – Algorithms to Approximate Solutions of Poisson’s Equation in Two and Three Dimensions (under Dr. Lee)
• Nicholas Gabriel – Maxwell’s Equations, Gauge Fields, and Yang-Mills Theory (under Dr. Chiang)

Shenandoah Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics Conference at James Madison University (September 24, 2016)

Paper Presentation

• Nora Benedetto – Cluster Analysis of Course Evaluation Response Rates (under Dr. Denhere)
• Rachelle Dambrose – Numerical Approximation of Poisson’s Equation (under Dr. Lee)

Poster Presentation

• Kelley Swenson – Predicting Enrollment using Time Series Models (under Dr. Denhere)
• Aaron Thomas – Mathematical Solution to Poisson’s Equation (under Dr. Lee)

*SSI 2016 (July 20, 2016)

Paper Presentation

• Nora Benedetto – Cluster Analysis of Course Evaluation Response Rates (under Dr. Denhere)
• Rachelle Dambrose – Numerical Approximation of Poisson’s Equation (under Dr. Lee)
  (1st place winner for the oral presentation)

Poster Presentation

• Kelley Swenson – Predicting Enrollment using Time Series Models (under Dr. Denhere)
  (1st place winner for the poster presentation)
• Aaron Thomas – Mathematical Solution to Poisson’s Equation (under Dr. Lee)

* More information about SSI can be found in the following link: http://cas.umw.edu/math/student-opportunities/summer-science-institute/.

2015 ~ 2016

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Chris Lloyd

Colgate W. Darden Award (given to the graduating senior(s) with the highest GPA)

• Chris Lloyd

Honors Theses

• Chris Lloyd – The Ko-Lee Key Exchange Protocol with Generalized Dihedral Groups (under Dr. Helmstutler)
• Victoria Moore – Simultaneous Estimation of Multiple Time Series (under Dr. Hydorn)
• Pengcheng Zhang – Homogeneous, Isotropic Cosmology, Schwarzschild Solution and Applications (under Dr. Chiang)

Undergraduate Publications

• Morgan M. Brown (’14), Identifying a Coefficient Matrix for Numerical Approximations to the Wave Equation in Two Dimensions, Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Math Journal, Vol. 16, Issue 1, pp 152 – 166, 2015 (under Dr. Lee)

2014 ~ 2015

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Kimberly Hildebrand

Honors Theses

• Michelle Craft – Eigenvectors of Interpoint Distance Matrices (under Dr. Hydorn)
• Kimberly Hildebrand – Using Independent Bernoulli Random Variables to Model Gender Hiring Practices (under Dr. Hydorn)

Scholarships

• Christopher Taitt – Fall 2014 Dodson Scholarship
• Lauren Turner – Spring 2015 Dodson Scholarship
• Kimberly Hildebrand – Loughran Scholarship
• Christopher Hunt – Robertson Scholarship
• Rachel Youmans – Talley Scholarship

2013 ~ 2014

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Morgan Brown

Honors Theses

• Kyle Genovese – Application of Multiple Regression: A Two Case Study (under Dr. Esunge)
• Casey Howren – Computational Analysis of the SIR Epidemic model (under Dr. Lee)
• Chris Hunt – Surface Theory, Minimal surfaces, and Weierstrass Representations (under Dr. Chiang)
• Dane Lawhorne – Analogies Between the Real and Digital Lines and Circles (under Dr. Helmstutler)

Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore, MD (January 2014)

Paper Presentation

• Casey Howren – A Numerical Analysis of the SIR Model for Modeling Epidemics (under Dr. Lee)
• Kimberly Hildebrand – Using Independent Bernoulli Random Variables to Model Gender Hiring Practices (under Dr. Hydorn)
• Dane Lawhorne – The Fundamental Groups of the Digital Line and Circles (under Dr. Helmstutler)
  (Dane became an outstanding presentation winner of the 2014 MAA Undergraduate Poster Session.)

Scholarships

• Benjamin Tuxbury – Dodson Scholarship
• Ashley Buxton – Loughran Scholarship
• Christopher Hunt – Robertson Scholarship
• William Etcho – Talley Scholarship

2012 ~ 2013

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Kathryn Dillinger

Honors Theses

• Kelly Brown – Mathematical Models of Honey Bee Populations: Rapid Population Decline (under Dr. Sumner)
• Morgan Brown – Numerical Approximations to the One- and Two-Dimensional Wave Equations (under Dr. Lee)
• Katie Dillinger – Analysis of the Heat Equation with a Heat Source Term (under Dr. Lee)
• Peter Slattery – Analytical Approaches to the Wave Equation (under Dr. Lee)

Scholarships

• Benjamin Tuxbury – Dodson Scholarship
• Kelly M. Brown – Loughran Scholarship
• Darren Getts – Robertson Scholarship
• Joseph Nguyen – Talley Scholarship

Shenandoah Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics Conference at James Madison University (September 29, 2012)

Paper Presentation

• Morgan Brown – How to Win Every Time (under Dr. Lee)

Poster Presentation

• Peter Slattery – The Wave Equation in One Dimension (under Dr. Lee)

2011 ~ 2012

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Kelly Scott

Honors Theses

• Hannah Baumgardner – The Gauss-Bonnet Theorem and its Applications on Manifolds (under Dr. Chiang)
• Marianne Dubinsky – Methods for Solving the Basel Problem (under Dr. Esunge)
• Alan Liddel – Generalized Functions of Schwartz Type (under Dr. Collier)
• Catherin O’Doherty – Explorations of Stable Distributions (under Dr. Esugne)
• Rebecca Presor – Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model: Analysis, Approximations, and Applications (under Dr. Lee)
• Kelly Scott – Anti-Blocking Sets (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Teresa Yao – The Diffusion of a Chemical Pollutant Modeled by a Fourier Series (under Dr. Lee)

Scholarships

• Rima Amin – Dodson Scholarship
• Aaron Kalman – Loughran Scholarship
• Erin Burdwood – Robertson Scholarship
• Alan Liddell – Talley Scholarship

Joint Mathematics Meetings in Boston, MA (January 2012)

Paper Presentation

• Marianne Dubinsky – Revisiting the Basel Problem (under Dr. Esunge)
• Catherine O’Doherty – Exploration of Stable Distribution (under Dr. Esunge)

Poster Presentation

• Kathryn Dillinger and Rebecca Presor – Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model: Analysis, Approximations, and Applications (under Dr. Lee)
• Ryan Vaughn – On the Contractibility of Finite coH-Space (under Dr. Helmstutler)

 

MD-DC-VA Section Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America at Christopher Newport University (November 2011)

Paper Presentation

• Catherine O’Doherty – Explanation of the Matrix Exponential (under Dr. Esunge)
• Ryan Vaughn – On the Contractibility of Finite coH-Spaces (under Dr. Helmstutler)
• Kelly Scott – Anti-Blocking Sets (under Dr. Mellinger)

Shenandoah Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics Conference at James Madison University (October 22, 2011)

Paper Presentation

• Catherine O’Doherty – Linear Recursions and the Laplace Transform (under Dr. Esunge)
• Rebecca Presor – Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model: Analysis, Approximations, and Applications (under Dr. Lee)

Poster Presentation

• Kathryn Dillinger – Profiting with Options Using the Black-Scholes Equation (under Dr. Lee)
  (Katie won second place for her poster presentation at the SUMS conference held at JMU.)

MathFest 2011 in Lexington, KY (August 2011)

Paper Presentation

• Marianne Dubinsky – Explorations of the Laplace Transform (under Dr. Esunge)
• Catherine O’Doherty – Applications of the Laplace Transform (under Dr. Esunge)

2010 ~ 2011

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Kelsie Snyder

Scholarships

• Rima Amin – Dodson Scholarship
• Alan Liddell – Loughran Scholarship
• Erin Burdwood – Robertson Scholarship
• Karissa Herrick – Talley Scholarship

Honors Theses

• Kathryn Christian – Mathematical and Numerical Solutions for a Heat Conduction Model (under Dr. Lee)
• Kevin Doubleday – Application of Markov Chains to Stock Trends (under Dr. Esunge)
• Geoff Driskell – A Comparison of Two Derivations of the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model (under Dr. Esunge)
• Kelsie Snyder – c-Dominating Sets for Families of Graphs (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Andrew Snyder-Beattie – Dissecting Two Approaches to Energy Prices (under Dr. Esunge)
• Erin Stange – Computational Models of the Diffusion Equation (under Dr. Lee)

MD-DC-VA Section Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America at Randolph-Macon College (April 2011)

Paper Presentation

• Kathryn Christion – Mathematical and Numerical Solutions for a Heat Conduction Model (under Dr. Lee)
• Kevin Doubleday – Application of Markov Chains to Stock Trends (under Dr. Esunge)
  (Kevin was awarded “Best Student Presentation” at the meeting.)
• Geoffrey Driskell – A Comparison of Two Derivations of the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model (under Dr. Esunge)
• Kelsie Snyder – c-Dominating Sets for Families of Graphs (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Andrew Snyder-Beattie – Dissecting Two Approaches to Energy Prices (under Dr. Esunge)

 

Joint Mathematics Meetings in New Orleans, LA (January 2011)

Poster Presentation

• Kathryn Christian – Polynomial Approximations of a Heat Conduction Model (under Dr. Lee)
• Andrew Snyder-Beattie – Mean Reversion Processes and Non-Competitive Markets: A Case Study of Oil Prices Since 1986 (under Dr. Esunge)
• Erin Strange and Teresa Yao – Chemical Pollutant Diffusion Model: Analysis and Approximations (under Dr. Lee)

Shenandoah Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics Conference at James Madison University (October 23, 2010)

Paper Presentation

• Andrew Snyder-Beattie – The S&P 500, Reality vs. the Black Scholes Model (under Dr. Esunge)
• Teresa Yao – Diffusion of a Chemical Pollutant Modeled by a Fourier Series (under Dr. Lee)

Poster Presentation

• Erin Strange – On Numerical Models of Chemical Pollutant Diffusion (under Dr. Lee)

MathFest 2010 in Pittsburgh, PA (August 2010)

Paper Presentation

• Andrew Snyder-Beattie and Kevin Groat – Geometric Brownian motion: A safe assumption? (under Dr. Esunge)
  (They were awarded “Best Student Presentation” at MathFest.)

2009 ~ 2010

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Barbara Brown

Honors Theses

• Sarah Ball – Evaluating Mean Willingness to Pay for the Success of the Blue Crab in the Chesapeake Bay (under Dr. Hydorn)
• Elizabeth Bernat – Analysis of Temperature Change Using a Mathematical Model (under Dr. Lee)
• Barbara Brown – Generalized Dihedral Groups of Small Order (under Dr. Helmstutler)
• Katie Hunsburger – The Weight Enumerator for a Class of LDPC Codes Generated by Hyperovals (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Thomas Wolfe – Statistical Analysis of Genetic Mutations in SMS Patients and Resulting Phenotypes (under Dr. Hydorn)

Shenandoah Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics Conference at James Madison University (October 3, 2009)

Paper Presentation

• Elizabeth Bernat – Numerical Estimates of Temperature Changes Using the Finite Difference Method (under Dr. Lee)
• Barbara Brown – Generalized Dihedral Groups and Geometry (under Dr. Helmstutler)

Poster Presentation

• Kathryn Christian – Solutions to Laplace’s Equation in Modeling Heat Conduction (under Dr. Lee)

 

MathFest 2009 in Portland, OR (August 2009)

Paper Presentation

• Elizabeth Bernat and Kathryn Christian – Laplace’s Equation: A Mathematical and Computational Analysis (under Dr. Lee)

2008 ~ 2009

Oscar T. Schultz Award (given to the outstanding junior or senior mathematics major who best demonstrates “the desire and potential to master the art of mathematics.”)

• Jonathan Stallings

Scholarships

• Thomas Wolfe – Loughran Scholarship
• Allison Hufford – Talley Scholarship
• Katie Hunsberger – Robertson Scholarship

Honors Theses

• William Ella – Retracts in Category Theory (under Dr. Helmstutler)
• Christine Exley – Cryptography Based on Determining Sets (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Jacob Farinholt – Designing Codes to Fit Your Needs: a closer look at BCH codes (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Jonathan Stallings – Improved Covariance Eigenvalue Estimates and Line Estimation (under Dr. Hydorn)
• Christopher Triola – Special Orthogonal Groups and Rotations (under Dr. Helmstutler)

MD-DC-VA Section Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America at the University of Mary Washington (April 2009)

Paper Presentation

• William Ella – Retracts in Category Theory (under Dr. Helmstutler)
• Jacob Farinholt – Designing Codes to Fit Your Needs: An Investigation Into the Construction of BCH Codes (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Katie Hunsberger – The weight enumerator for a class of LDPC codes defined by hyperovals (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Jonathan Stallings – Improved Covariance Eigenvalue Estimates and Line Estimation (under Dr. Hydorn)

 

Joint Mathematics Meetings in Washington, DC (January 2009)

Paper Presentation

• William Ella

Poster Presentation

• Catherine Castleberry (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Jacob Farinholt (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Katie Hunsberger (under Dr. Mellinger)
• Jonathan Stallings (under Dr. Hydorn)
• Christopher Triola (under Dr. Lehman)
• Thomas Wolfe (under Dr. Hydorn)