	Publications Meetings The Profession Membership Programs Math Samplings Policy & Advocacy In the News About the AMS
\|

Who Wants to Be a Mathematician National Contest

The winner of the 2012 contest (at left, holding check) was Shyam Narayanan, a freshman at Blue Valley West High School in Overland Park, Kansas. The contest took place Friday, January 6 at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Boston.

Qualifying for the 2013 contest will begin in late August (2012). Contestants are chosen based on their scores on a qualifying test, administered by teachers (or in the case of home-schooled students, by whomever does the teaching at home). Teachers who would like a test should email the AMS Public Awareness Office: paoffice at ams dot org, subject line: National WWTBAM. Include your contact information and the courses you are teaching in the fall semester.

The top prize in the contest is $5000 for the student and $5000 for the math department at his or her school. There is no fee to participate. (Photo of five of the 2012 National Who Wants to Be a Mathematician contestants (left to right): Allen Yang, Stephen Lamontagne, Shyam Narayanan, Alex McDonough, and about half of Eric Schneider, by E. David Luria)

All photos by E. David Luria

In the AMS game Who Wants to Be a Mathematician, high school students compete for cash and prizes by answering multiple choice mathematics questions. Meet the contestants who participated in the 2012 contest, based on their scores on the qualifying test. Those contestants, in alphabetical order, are:

Pablo Luis Hernandez, Miami Springs Senior High School (FL)
Stephen Lamontagne, (who also qualified for the 2011 contest), Barrington High School (RI)
Alex McDonough, Winchester High School (MA)
Shyam Narayanan, Blue Valley West High School (KS)
Raj Raina, Novi High School (MI)
Allan Sadun, Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School (TX)
Eric Schneider, High Technology High School (NJ)
Rachit Singh, Pullman High School (WA)
Richard Spence, (who also qualified for the 2011 contest), Sonoran Science Academy (AZ)
Allen Yang, Cary Academy (NC)

Read about the first two national contests: 2011 and 2010. See the answers to the qualifying test for the 2012 and 2011 national Who Wants to Be a Mathematician.


Above photos from the 2011 (left) and 2010 contest (right) by E. David Luria.

In addition to the cash prizes in the national contest, there are also prizes donated by: Texas Instruments, Maplesoft Inc., John Wiley & Sons, and the AMS. The game is a program of the AMS Public Awareness Office and was developed by Mike Breen (AMS Public Awareness Officer) and Bill Butterworth (DePaul University ).