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Mathematics

Great role models, and many paths to take

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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.

What you'll learn

Quantitative literacy

Quantitative literacy

Interpret, represent and summarize information. Use math and statistics to solve problems.

Disciplinary knowledge

Disciplinary knowledge

Gain a deep understanding of your subject and how it connects to other subjects.

Critical thinking and information literacy

Critical thinking and information literacy

Judge and construct arguments, raise questions and define problems. Make a conclusion based on evidence.

Intellectual curiosity

Intellectual curiosity

Set yourself up for lifelong intellectual growth. Take responsibility for your own learning.

Communication competence

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.

*Augustana mathematics graduate Daniel Tsui ’61 won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1998. Today he is an emeritus senior scholar at Princeton University.

Recent graduates

Emmanuel Yeboah '21 is an audit associate with Deloitte.

Ivan Starenko ’20 is studying mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Valeria Gonzalez ’20 is a math teacher at Rock Island (Ill.) High School.

Kyle Workman ’19 is a software engineer at Cerner Corporation in Kansas City, Mo.

Austin Burant ’17 is an investment associate at COUNTRY Financial in Bloomington, Ill.

Dominick Sullivan ’17 is an actuarial analyst at Allstate Insurance Company in the Chicago area.

Rebecca Post ’15 is a biostatistician at Frontier Science & Technology Research Foundation, Inc., in Madison, Wis.

April Tran
More Than I Imagined April Tran
“Dr. Clauss' energy and enthusiasm changed how I view math, and of course, my life.”
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Stacey Carpenter
More Than I Imagined Kacey Carpenter
“I knew that I wanted to be a teacher, but I had no idea that my passion for math would grow like it did.”
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Dat Tran
More Than I Imagined Dat Tran
“I learned that I actually like science and mathematics, which were things that I despised when I was in high school.”
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Nelly Cheboi

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. 

Nelly Cheboi

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.

Members of the Augustana Physics and Engineering Society

Augustana recognized for STEM program by INSIGHT Into Diversity 

An Augustana College mentoring program that partners junior and senior STEM majors with younger classmates from underrepresented groups has won a national award.

Juggling counts

Math and Computer Science Department is happy to welcome Dr. Steve Butler, Professor of Mathematics at Iowa State University as he presents "Juggling Counts" for this seminar.