Interested in hearing a Davidson mathematics professor? If your high school is near Davidson ask your teacher to consider the High School Speakers Program. Read about this program below or get our brochure in pdf format.

The Department of Mathematics at Davidson College is sponsoring a High School Speakers Program in mathematics again this year. Department members have volunteered to visit high schools in the area and deliver expository talks on interesting topics in mathematics and computer science. These presentations can be made either to regular mathematics classes or at meetings of mathematics clubs. The talks will be provided without charge and can be given either during the day or in the evening.

The High School Speakers program is designed to introduce students to applications and areas of mathematics not usually covered in the high school curriculum, to motivate talented students to consider a career in mathematics, and to foster links between high school and college teachers in our area.

How to Participate

Contact Irl Bivens at 704-894-2317 or irbivens@davidson.edu  to express your desire to participate in the program and to indicate the talks and/or topics in which you are interested. 

Example Topics 

1. Algebra and number theory in college: how remainders behave like soccer balls. (elementary group theory)
2. Cleaning noise from the data stream. (computer science)
3. Coffee cups and donuts. (Topology)
4. Cryptography.
5. Functional iteration leads to chaos and fractals.
6. Interesting problems in calculus.
7. Interesting problems in finite probability.
8. Intricate computer graphics from mathematical principles.
9. Kevin Bacon and the Small World Problem. (graph theory, probability)
10. Math, computers, and the human genome. (applied mathematics, biology, and the Human Genome Project)
11. Numbering corners on a hypercube. (geometry in n-space, combinatorics)
12. The random walk. (probability and geometry)
13. Secrets of the Mathemagician. (magic and mathematics)
14. Solving the transportation problem. (linear programming)

Faculty and Areas of Interest

• Irl Bivens - geometry, history of mathematics, recreational mathematics
• Stephen Davis - algebra, number theory, cryptography, computer science
• Laurie Heyer - applied mathematics, computer science, the Human Genome Project
• Ben Klein - calculus, probability, geometry
• Donna Molinek - calculus, dynamical systems, mathematical modeling, random walks, topology
• Mike Mossinghoff - graph theory, computer science, cryptography
• Richard Neidinger - calculus, numerical analysis, fractals, chaos
• John Swallow - algebra, number theory, parallel computing
• Robert Whitton – calculus, computer graphics