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Mathematics

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Michael Dorff Appointed as Chair of the Department of Mathematics

July 03, 2025 01:45 PM
Dean Grant Jensen of the College of Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences is pleased to announce that BYU has appointed Dr. Michael Dorff as chair of the Department of Mathematics starting July 1, 2025. Dorff will replace Dr. Paul Jenkins, who has served as department chair since 2019.
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Robert Davis appointed as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy

July 02, 2025 08:45 AM
Dean Grant Jensen of the College of Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences is pleased to announce that BYU has appointed Robert Davis as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy starting July 1, 2025. Davis will replace Dr. Kent Gee, who has served as department chair since 2019.
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Understanding the Fastest Route Between Four Points is as Simple as Playing with Soap Bubbles

September 13, 2018 01:55 PM
In BYU Magazine’s new YouTube video series, “A Thing of Beauty,” BYU professors and personalities sharing something they consider beautiful. Mathematics professor and Department Chair Michael Dorff appreciates the “lovely harmony between soap bubbles and mathematics.” Click here to watch Michael Dorff share the beauty of soap bubbles.
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Do the Math!

August 19, 2018 12:10 PM
In Spring of 2018, students took their study of math equations from the orderly classrooms of BYU campus to a much larger classroom: South America.
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Who’s ‘good’ at math? Dan Siebert redefines success in mathematics

August 16, 2018 05:11 PM
“Ask kids in school, Who’s good at mathematics? and they’ll say So-and-so. If you ask them why, they’ll say, Because they always finish first,” explains Dan Siebert.
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Using Math to Understand Your World—And Your Neighbor

May 03, 2018 02:56 PM
Like all math teachers, Professor Kate Johnson of the Mathematics Education Department studies variables. The variables that Johnson examines, however, usually don’t show up on the page.
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Dorff named head of Math Association of America

February 01, 2018 12:44 PM
Michael Dorff takes the reins today as the Math Association of America’s (MAA) president-elect. Read more on BYU News.
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What the Boy Scouts Don’t Understand About Knots

October 08, 2017 12:04 PM
Math professor Mark Hughes specializes in topology.
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BYU Math Students go Abroad to Learn about Jobs

September 05, 2017 12:56 PM
Members of the Applied Math in Europe study abroad recently returned from an international experience involving eight countries and 11 company visits over the course of three weeks.
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Why Number Theorists Tackle Centuries-Old Problems

August 31, 2017 01:09 PM
Dr. Roger Baker’s office whiteboard fills up in twenty minutes with centuries-old problems for which no mathematician has an answer or a proof.
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New BYU Math Professor Pays It Forward to His Students

November 29, 2016 11:44 AM
Dr. Blake Barker loves math and research, which is why he loves mathematical research.
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Math Professor Brings Diverse Teaching Experience and Passion for Research to BYU

October 20, 2016 12:18 PM
New math professor, Dr. Nathan Priddis, brings his teaching experience from Michigan and Germany to the BYU classroom.
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New Math Professor Emphasizes Math’s Application to Life

October 13, 2016 01:49 PM
Dr. Curtis Kent was too focused on his LDS mission to respond when his mother asked him his preference for an undergraduate major. She was trying to fill out applications so he would be ready to go to school following his mission.
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New Math Professor Seeks to Teach Students True Meaning of Success

October 06, 2016 12:56 PM
The BYU Department of Mathematics has a new mathematics professor, and he is no stranger to teaching exceptional individuals like BYU students.
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Mathematics Professor Awarded for Great Research

September 22, 2016 01:07 PM
With about six to seven research projects in his queue each year, Dr. Pace Nielsen in the BYU Department of Mathematics has made waves in the mathematics community. One of his most recent projects was a massive collaboration (unusual in mathematics) with a number of world-class researchers, studying the spacing of prime numbers. They proved there are infinitely many pairs of primes within 246 integers of each other.
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Tyler Jarvis Honored for Making Math Memorable

September 14, 2016 12:22 PM
Tyler J. Jarvis, a professor in the BYU Department of Mathematics, received the Karl G. Maeser Excellence in Teaching Award at this year’s Annual University Conference.
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Department of Mathematics to Celebrate Pi Day with Pie

February 22, 2016 01:01 PM
Pi (π) may be an irrational number, but the celebration of Pi Day has become a tradition to rely on at BYU.
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The Thrill of Discovery

February 22, 2016 01:00 PM
While some may view math as a tedious, required class, mathematics professor Stephen Humphries believes that it is much more than that: Math is discovery.
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