Mathematics Department

Department Awards

annual awards and honor society election


The Sally Award

The Paul J. Sally, Jr. Distinguished Alumnus prize is awarded annually to a graduating senior (or seniors) who has shown true, academic distinction in a demanding program in Mathematics.

Brendan Keenan, Sally award winner, with Sol FriedbergThe award is endowed by Professor Sally himself, who graduated from Boston College in 1954, and received his Masters's degree from Boston College in 1956. After a short teaching career in area high schools and at Boston College, Professor Sally completed his Ph.D. at Brandeis in 1965 and joined the faculty in the Department of Mathematics of the University of Chicago where he remains active today.

Professor Sally's research has been in the areas of harmonic analysis and representation theory, which concern the understanding of complicated mathematical problems whose behaviors exhibit natural symmetries. They are central areas of modern mathematics.

Professor Sally has served on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and participated in the Association of Members of the Institute for Advanced Study. He has served on and/or chaired a number of committees for the National Science Foundation and the American Mathematical Society.

The 2008 award was won by Brendan Keenan, shown above with Professor Friedberg. He was presented with the award at a Department Awards Ceremony on Thursday, May 1. A second, formal presentation will be made by Dean Patrick Maney at the A&S Awards Ceremony on Sunday, May 18.

Previous Winners of the Paul J. Sally, Jr. Award
 

2000: Anya Kuznetsova and Peter Rankel
2001: Allison Morabito
2002: Jacek Nowacki
2003: Tak-Lun "Koopa" Koo
2004: Melissa Maisch, Matthew Sequin, and Paul Wenger
2005: David Goett and Stephanie Maniscalco
2006: Scott L. Gentile II
2007: Alex C. Landraitis


The Bennett Award

The Department annually presents the Albert A. Bennett award to a graduating mathematics major who has shown a high level of achievement and a desire to teach mathematics.

This award was instituted in 1980 in honor of Dr. Albert A. Bennett, who passed away in 1971. Professor Bennett received degrees from Brown and Princeton (Ph.D., 1915), and held positions at Princeton, Brown, Southern Illinois, Rhode Island, and (for several years after his formal retirement) at Boston College. He published many texts and articles in algebra and logic.

Professor Bennett was a true gentleman who was interested in expanding the mathematical interests and abilities of high school teachers. From 1962 until shortly before his death, Professor Bennett would travel via train from his home in Providence, R I, to the Chestnut Hill campus two days each week to conduct classes.

Colleen A. Sampson was selected as the recipient of the 2008 Albert A. Bennett award. She was presented with the award at the Department Awards Ceremony on Thursday, May 1. A second, formal presentation will be made by Dean Joseph O'Keefe at the LSOE Awards Ceremony on Sunday, May 18.

Winners of the Bennett Award to date are:

1980
Margaret Mary Napolitano
1990
Thomas Kelleher
2000
Ana B. Monteiro
1981
Stephanie Kay
Kevin Andrew O'Laughlin
1991
S. John DiBartolo
2001
Theresa A. Cojohn
1982
Diane Duffy
Jennifer Sulla
1992
Christopher Ryan Hawkins
2002
Emily K. Harvey
1983
Robert Clancey Powers
1993
Stephanie Ruggiano
2003
Thomas M. Smith
1984
Antone R. Costa Jr.
1994
Theresa M. Tucci
2004
Rebecca E. Stern
1985
Barbara Marie Helmes
1995
Sarah E. Quebec
2005
Mark Russo
1986
Mary Frances Mangraviti
1996
Joseph A. Donahue
2006
James K. LaJoie
1987
Aimee Ann Walker
1997
Emily F. Gallagher
2007
Elizabeth Rini
1988
Jennifer Marie Fish
1998
Alyson B. Foley
Jennifer L. Roche

2008
Colleen A. Sampson

 1989
Susan Elizabeth Lerro
 1999
Thomas J. Doherty
 

Pi Mu Epsilon

The Department annually inducts undergraduate majors and a handful of graduate students into Pi Mu Epsilon, an honorary national mathematics society.

Picture of the Pi Mu Epsilon ShieldPi Mu Epsilon was founded on May 25, 1914 at Syracuse University. It is a non-secret organization and is dedicated to the promotion of mathematics and recognition of students who successfully pursue mathematical understanding. Pi Mu Epsilon also sponsors a journal devoted to topics in mathematics accessible to undergraduate students.

Our Chapter is named Massachusetts Zeta, since we are the sixth Chapter instituted in Massachusetts. Other Chapters have been inaugurated at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, College of the Holy Cross, Bridgewater State College, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and Boston University.

We've put together a list of all students inducted into our local Chapter, including students inducted in May, 2007.