Students engage passions in summer research projects
At Augustana College, summer isn't just a break from classes — it's a perfect time for cutting-edge research and academic exploration.
A love for mathematics can take you into statistics, operations research, the biological and physical sciences, actuarial science and teaching. For one Augie graduate, it set him on a path to the Nobel Prize.*
At Augustana, you’ll start with a mathematics major/minor, the major in applied mathematics or the mathematics teaching major. Popular second majors and minors include computer science, chemistry, physics and music.
If you want to teach in the secondary schools, you’ll be glad to know that 100% of our math teaching graduates have found high school teaching jobs. Like all Augustana mathematics majors, they not only have the ability, they have the role models.
Your professors will lead you in courses sequenced to your progress, beginning with solving well formulated problems; working toward building examples and techniques; and advancing to problems, models, structures and abstractions.
You’ll have many options for using and building your skills: summer research with faculty, student teaching, tutoring other students in the Ratiocination (a.k.a. “Rat”) Room in the Olin Center, and internships — from the Deere & Co. world headquarters here in the Quad Cities, to a finance and insurance firm in Sydney, Australia.
*Augustana mathematics graduate Daniel Tsui ’61 won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1998. Today he is an emeritus senior scholar at Princeton University.
What you'll learn
Quantitative literacy
Interpret, represent and summarize information. Use math and statistics to solve problems.
Disciplinary knowledge
Gain a deep understanding of your subject and how it connects to other subjects.
Critical thinking and information literacy
Judge and construct arguments, raise questions and define problems. Make a conclusion based on evidence.
Intellectual curiosity
Set yourself up for lifelong intellectual growth. Take responsibility for your own learning.
Communication competence
Read and listen carefully. Express ideas (writing or speaking) suited to the audience.
Distinctions
• One mathematics professor holds the Earl H. Beling Chair in Mathematics and advises Beling Scholars, students who are funded through the program for their independent study or research projects in computer science or mathematics.
• Every year, mathematics students and faculty travel to professional meetings such as the section meeting of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and MathFest, the annual summer meeting of MAA.
• Augustana has had a chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon, the national mathematics honor society, since 1979. The college also has a mathematics and computer science club, which started as the mathematics club in 1952.
Recent graduates
Sofia Briggs '23 is an integration engineer at Epic in Verona, Wis.
Rachel Heikkinen '23 is pursuing a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Jared Reiling '23 is pursing a Ph.D. in computational mathematics, science and engineering at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Justin Vollmuth '23 is a mathematics teacher at Mesa Ridge High School in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Megan Anderson '22 is an engineering research assistant at LyondellBasell in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Fernando Bravo Garcia '22 is a mathematics teacher at United Township High School in East Moline, Ill.
Henry Nghiem '22 is an associate with the Boston Consulting Group in Chicago.
Emmanuel Yeboah '21 is an assumptions audit analyst at American Equity in Des Moines, Iowa.
Valeria Gonzalez ’20 is a mathematics teacher at Rock Island (Ill.) High School.
Kyle Workman ’19 is a lead software engineer with CarNow in Salem, Mo.
Austin Burant ’17 is a hedge fund analyst with Goldman Sachs in Chicago.
Dominick Sullivan ’17 is an actuarial analyst with Allstate Insurance Company in the Chicago area.
More Than I Imagined
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Sofia Briggs
“My advisor, Dr. Andrew Sward, has been one of the biggest contributors to my success at Augustana.”Read More
More Than I Imagined
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Jared Reiling
“Augustana gave me the opportunity to pursue majors in completely different subjects: mathematics and piano performance.”Read More
More Than I Imagined
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Huy (Henry) Nghiem
“I'm also very grateful for the professors from the math and accounting/business departments who have been there, listening to my thoughts while letting me craft my own Augie experience.”Read More
News
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CNN Hero Cheboi '16 to speak Jan. 11, and at commencement
CNN Hero Nelly Cheboi '16 will share her leadership journey at a mini-lecture on on campus Jan. 11.
Cheboi '16 is CNN Hero of the Year!
Nelly Cheboi '16 was named CNN Hero of the Year Sunday for her work with TechLit Africa, a nonprofit that redistributes recycled computers in schools in rural Kenya.