KNOXVILLE — Registration is underway for the University of Tennessee Pro2Serve Math Contest scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 26 in Knoxville. Contest participation is open to all high school students across Tennessee.
The top 10 contest winners will each receive four-year, $4,000 per year scholarships to the University of Tennessee. The scholarships are funded by UT’s Chancellor, Dr. Loren Crabtree and can be used for any major on the Knoxville campus. Winners will receive trophies, plaques and certificates in recognition of excellence at different stages of the competition.
In addition, UT-Battelle LLC will award summer internships at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the top five winners who meet citizenship requirements, enroll at UT, and complete their junior year there with a 3.5 or higher grade point average.
The UT Mathematics Department and Pro2Serve Professional Project Services, Inc. are sponsors of the contest. Knoxville’s WBIR-TV 10 is a media sponsor. Last year’s competition drew more than 700 students from 71 Tennessee high schools to campus for the daylong event.
“The competition allows us to showcase our university to some of Tennessee’s most talented students,” said Michael Frazier, professor and head of UT’s Mathematics Department. “We hope this competition and the scholarships will allow us to attract our state’s brightest minds to our university and this area.”
Past contest winners have had much success and are making significant strides at UT and beyond. UT’s team in the Putnam math contest, the oldest and most prestigious in the country for undergraduates, was made up entirely of former UT-Pro2Serve Contest Winners. Nick Boatman from Carter High School, Eric Mueller of Farragut High School, and Hai Nguyen of Dekalb County High School, placed 17th out of 515 teams from throughout North America.
Other winners have gone on to continued success in their college careers:
Boatman was also on the UT Math Jeopardy Team that won this year’s regional finals. He was accepted into Tulane University’s 2005 Research Experience for Undergraduates Program.
James Hughes of Cleveland High graduated from UT’s math program in 2004 and is now enrolled in graduate school at the University of Virginia.
Nathaniel Tanner of Farragut High is a 2005 honors graduate from UT’s Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology department, where he received an award of distinction for his honors thesis and is attending graduate school in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard University.
Britni Ratliff of Hendersonville High School received one of three national Goldwater scholarships and a Melvin Rhenium scholarship from the chemistry department, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
As part of a commitment to the communities where its employees live and work, Pro2Serve has sponsored the UT Pro2Serve Math Contest since 2001. Headquartered in Oak Ridge, Pro2Serve is a nationally-recognized technical and engineering services company dedicated to protecting national security by providing innovative solutions to government and private industry on critical security, defense, facilities and infrastructure, nuclear nonproliferation and environmental projects.
Engineering News-Record named Pro2Serve as the 242nd largest design firm and the 15th largest manufacturing design firm in the nation for 2006. It was the only East Tennessee firm to make the list. Pro2Serve is also a two-time alumnus of the Inc. 500, a listing of the 500 fastest growing privately held companies in the United States. In addition to Tennessee, Pro2Serve has offices in South Carolina, Texas, New Mexico and Ohio.
“This is Pro2Serve’s sixth year sponsoring this competition and each year we are amazed at the level of competition and participation from across Tennessee,” said Barry Goss, Pro2Serve’s president. “As a Tennessee-grown business, we think it’s important to develop and retain the intellectual talent of our State. These young men and women are majoring in math, science, and engineering. These are the types of skills Tennessee and our nation need to nurture in order to maintain a competitive technological edge for the future,” he said.
On the morning of the contest, each student takes a written, multiple-choice exam, which tests his/her knowledge of Algebra I and II and Geometry, and is machine graded. Students with the top 50 scores on the multiple-choice exam then take a second, essay-type exam, which is hand graded. Scholarships are awarded to the top 10 scorers on the second exam.
The contest also features the Math Bowl, a double-elimination team competition similar to the old College Bowl. The Math Bowl promotes pride in mathematical prowess through a high profile face-off that recognizes both team and individual accomplishments.
Participation in this year’s University of Tennessee Pro2Serve Math Contest is limited to 1,000 individual students and 64 Math Bowl teams, each containing three students. Up to 30 students per school will be allowed to register for the contest, and each school can enter one Math Bowl team. For teams traveling more than 100 miles, funding is available to help with lodging, travel and bus expenses, as well as for teachers accompanying school teams.
Early registration is through October 6 and costs $10 per person. From October 7-16, registration is $12 per person. No onsite registration is allowed the day of the contest. All fees much be received by October 16, 5 p.m. EST. Contest details and registration information can be found at http://www.math.utk.edu/MathContest/ or the by contacting the UT Math Department at 865-974-2461.
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Contacts:
Jay Mayfield, UT media relations (865-974-9409, jay.mayfield@tennessee.edu)
Monica Sutton, Pro2Serve (865-805-5152, monicasutton@charter.net)