About
In the NC State Department of Mathematics, excellent teaching and a supportive community combine with cutting-edge research across a broad spectrum of mathematics and its applications.
Excellence in Teaching and Research
The NC State math faculty’s mission is to help students thrive. The quality of our teaching has been recognized by the university, which has inducted 12 of our faculty into its Academy of Outstanding Teachers, and by prestigious awards from the American Mathematical Society (AMS). The department’s size — more than 60 faculty — means that each student has access to personal attention from faculty and to an unusual range of opportunities.
Research topics in our department range from fundamental questions in algebra and combinatorics to mathematical modeling of the eye and circulatory system. Ours is one of the leading U.S. math departments in offering opportunities for graduate students to work on practical problems with industrial collaborators. And our department is one of the most successful in the nation in securing research grants, with annual funding of more than $5 million, much of which supports graduate and undergraduate student researchers.
Our students have won prestigious Goldwater, Churchill and Fulbright awards and have gone on to notable careers in business, government, research, and teaching.
Recent Activities
A Supportive and Engaged Community
Our department is committed to mentoring and to creating a supportive environment that helps all students succeed in math. The American Mathematical Society (AMS) has twice recognized NC State’s Department of Mathematics with its highest departmental honors. In 2010, the department received the AMS Award for an Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department. The following year, the AMS honored us with its 2011 Award for Mathematics Programs That Make a Difference.
“This is a department that manages to do it all.”
American Mathematical Society
Student organizations and seminars play a vibrant role in the department. The Society for Undergraduate Mathematics, student chapters of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the Association for Women in Mathematics, and graduate groups in areas such as algebra and applied mathematics all sponsor talks, panel discussions, and social events.
Our outreach efforts extend into the community, where we help inspire future mathematicians through weekly Math Circle meetings and the Association for Women in Mathematics chapter’s annual Sonia Kovalevsky Day for middle-school girls. We also highlight the importance of mathematics for the broader public with events such as the annual Kwangil Koh Lecture on Mathematics in Our Time, delivered by a leading mathematician, and through our participation in BugFest at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.
An Award-Winning Department
The American Mathematical Society has recognized the department with its two major program prizes.