About Our Alumni
Where Have Our Alums Gone to College?
Over half the alumni have attended Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, UC Berkeley, or Caltech as undergraduates (the other half attended one of more than 160 other institutions). Of the alumni for whom we know the undergraduate major, 60% have majored in mathematics with many others majoring in engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry and/or biology. (PROMYS has post-secondary school educational data on 97% of our 1,665 alumni and recently updated education/career data on around 90%.)
How Many of Our Alums Have Chosen to Acquire a Doctorate?
At least 593 alumni have, or are working on, a doctorate. This represents 53% of all old enough alumni for whom we have recently updated educational information (or 45% of all alumni old enough for graduate school). Four hundred and eighty-nine of the doctorates are PhD's, 474 (97%) of which are STEM PhD's. Three hundred and nine alumni have, or are currently working on, a PhD in Mathematics. Forty-seven percent of alum PhD's in Mathematics are from MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, University of Chicago, Princeton, or Stanford.
How Many of Our Alums are Professors?
At least 148 of the alumni are currently professors (71 are Full or Associate Professors). One hundred are professors of mathematics; others are professors of computer science, physics, finance, economics, chemistry, biology, meteorology, philosophy, medicine, business, public policy, management, English, sociology, urban education, or law. Alumni are on the faculty at a great many institutions including six at Harvard University, three at MIT, five at Cornell University, five at University of Chicago, three at Columbia University, four at University of Pennsylvania, three at University of Michigan, and two at University of California Berkeley.
What Fields Do Our Alums Enter?
Over 396 alumni are currently in mathematics: this includes math graduate students, professional mathematicians in academia and/or industry, math teachers and actuaries. Many alums have entered other STEM fields such as physics. Over 403 alumni are in computer science or engineering. There are also many alums in finance, consulting, medicine, and law. Alums in a wide range of fields speak fervently about the benefits they have received from the rigorous habits of mind they acquired at PROMYS. There are PROMYS alumni in the armed forces, writing for television, being stay-at-home parents, architects, artists, rabbis, and missionaries. There is an alum wildlife photographer, a jazz pianist, a band manager, and a journalist with the New York Times. There are, of course, many more occupations represented than are mentioned here – and our knowledge remains incomplete.
Some PROMYS Alumni Awards and Distinctions
Below is a very partial list of some of the alum awards and distinctions of which we are aware.
Some High School Alum Distinctions
21 USA Mathematical Olympiad Wins (including a perfect score)
Well over 60 Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MOP) Attendees (many for multiple years)
26 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) Medals: 18 alumni winning 10 gold medals, 13 silver medals and 3 bronze medals
1 Perfect ARML Score
1 Perfect AIME Score
4 Perfect AMC10 Scores
1 Perfect AMC12 Score
3 US China Girls’ Math Olympiad Team Members and a bronze medal in the International China Girls’ Math Olympiad 2011
Regeneron Science Talent Search (formerly Intel STS - and before that, Siemens Westinghouse Competition): One 1st Place, one 2nd Place, one 3rd Place, two 4th Places, one 5th Place, one 6th Place, one 8th Place, twelve Finalists, and a great many Regional Finalists, Semi-Finalists, and Scholars.
Siemens Competition. Many prizes. In 2014, there were 12 alum Semi-Finalists, 8 alum Regional Finalists, and 6 alum National Finalists including the $50,000 Scholarship Winner, the $40,000 Scholarship Team Winners, and the $20,000 Scholarship Team Winners.
Alums have mentored other alums in prize-winning research projects including a 1st Place award in the Siemens Westinghouse Competition, an Intel STS 3rd Prize, and an ISEF 3rd Place in Mathematics.
10 International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) Team Members with 2 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze medals at IPhO
2 International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) Team Members with a silver medal at IChO
1 Winner of US Chemistry Olympiad
2 International Linguistics Olympiad Team Member and a silver medal at ILO
2 ISEF Award Grand Prizes in 2012 alone
12 Presidential Scholars
4 Davidson Fellows
7 Clay Research Academy Junior Fellows
Some Undergraduate Alum Distinctions
10 Putnam Fellow Awards (top 5)
16 Putnam, 6th to 15th Place Awards
21 Putnam, 16th to 25th Place Awards
Over 50 Putnam Honorable Mentions
2 International Math Competition 1st Prizes
4 Alice Schafer Prizes
8 Alice Schafer Prize Runners Up and Honorable Mentions
1 Morgan Prize for Outstanding Undergraduate Research in Math
21 Barry Goldwater Scholars
5 National Science Foundation (NSF) VIGRE Fellowships for Undergraduate Research
3 All-USA College Academic First Team Members
Some Graduate Alum Distinctions
At least 122 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships and 63 Honorable Mentions
20 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship Awards
1 Marshall Scholar
10 Fulbright Scholars
6 Hertz Fellows
5 Churchill Fellowships and 1 Gates Fellowship to study at Cambridge University, England
4 Sloan Dissertation Fellows
Some Postdoctoral or Professional Alum Distinctions
Many National Science Foundation (NSF) Awards including at least 49 Postdoctoral Fellowships, 70 NSF Grants, 3 PECASE Awards and 12 CAREER Awards
11 Sloan Research Fellows
7 Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) Postdoctoral Fellowships
1 American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) Fellowship
6 Fellows of the American Mathematical Society (AMS)
7 Clay Mathematics Institute Fellowships: three 5-year Clay Research Fellows and four Liftoff Fellows
1 Conant Prize
Numerous named instructorships including the Lovett Instructorship at Rice and the Moore Instructorship at MIT.
Numerous alum teaching awards including the Harold M. Bacon Memorial Teaching Award from Stanford University, the Harvard Distinction in Teaching Award, and the Nikki Kose Memorial Teaching Prize from the UC Berkeley Math Department.
Some Additional Alum Distinctions
1 Purple Heart
1 President of the Harvard Law Review
1 World Scrabble Champion
1 World Puzzle Champion
1 Violinist who performed with Itzhak Perlman in PBS-broadcast concert at Carnegie Hall
Tech start-ups such as the alum-founded company bought by Google
Patent holders: many alumni (one of whom has 17 issued patents)
The alumni have authored an estimated 1,900 peer reviewed publications, including at least 18 books (some of which are college textbooks and one of which is a poetry collection), and a very wide array of book chapters and articles.
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