The UConn Math Department hosted our fourth-annual Eastern Connecticut MATHCOUNTS competition on Saturday, February 21, 2026. This is an official part of the National MATHCOUNTS competition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathcounts). We have hosted the Eastern Connecticut Regional competition for several years now, and it has been supported by the Department of Mathematics and UConn’s CLAS. This year we had more than 100 middle school students (mathletes) registered to compete from 13 middle schools. In addition to the competition itself, the day featured a welcome message from the CLAS Associate Dean for Research and Strategic Initiatives, Derek Houston, and a presentation by UConn’s PhD alum, Lisa Naples, Fairfield University, and a trivia competition. The event would not be possible without many volunteers from the Math Department and members of UConn’s Alpha Phi Omega.
News
Álvaro Lozano-Robledo to deliver AMS Einstein Public Lecture in Mathematics
We are excited to announce that Professor Álvaro Lozano-Robledo will be delivering the American Mathematical Society’s Einstein Public Lecture in Mathematics at the Spring Central Sectional Meeting of the AMS, to be held April 17-18, 2027, at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
Math Department sponsors Connecticut Science Bowl Competition
UConn Math sponsored the Connecticut Science Bowl Competition held on Saturday, February 28, 2026 at Monteith and at Susan H Herbst Hall at the Storrs UConn campus. More than 200 students from across the State of Connecticut gathered to compete in a quiz bowl style competition. Topics included Math, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, Earth Science, and General Science. Students are not permitted to use calculators; only their skills, intuition, and scrap paper. This year’s winners are
Connecticut 1st Place: Greenwich High School – Team 1
Connecticut 2nd Place: Farmington High School – Team 1
House Competitive Tournament 1st Place: East Lyme High School – Team 1
House Friendly Tournament 1st Place: Loomis Chafee – Team 3
They will represent the State of Connecticut at the National Science Bowl Competition April 30 – May 4, 2026
https://science.osti.gov/wdts/nsb
The Goldenson Center for Actuarial Research receives transformational $11 million estate gift
Professor Ambar Sengupta elected to the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences
Professor Ambar Sengupta was elected to The Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences (CAAS) in March 2025. The CAAS was founded in 1799 and is the third-oldest learned society in the United States. Its purpose is the dissemination of scholarly information. For the past 200 years, the Academy has fulfilled this mission through lectures and extensive publications such as Memoirs and Transactions of the Academy that started in 1810. Monthly presentations during the academic year (September-May) provide an opportunity for both the lay person and scholar to hear distinguished speakers discuss current work in the sciences, arts, and humanities.
UConn Math hosts reception at JMM 2026
UConn Math, and its research arm, the MSRC, hosted a reception at the Joint Mathematics Meetings 2026 in Washington, DC. The reception drew a large and exciting gathering of UConn graduate alumni from over decades, current department members, students, both graduate and undergraduate, as well as other JMM 2026 participants, including this year’s award winners.
UConn Math to host Workshop on PDEs and Applied Math in the Northeast
UConn Math will host a one-day workshop on PDEs and applied mathematics on March 7, 2026. The event will bring together mathematicians from all career stages to explore recent advances in nonlinear PDEs and applied mathematics. Aiming to foster new connections across diverse research groups and strengthen ties within the broader academic community, the workshop will feature both leading experts and emerging scholars.
This workshop is funded by the National Science Foundation and UConn Math’s MSRC.
Damir Dzhafarov is plenary speaker at the Joint Mathematics Meetings 2026
Professor Damir Dzhafarov will be giving an Association for Symbolic Logic Invited Address at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in January 2026 at Washington, DC. His lecture is titled “From Topology to Combinatorics, via Computability Theory.”
Vișan Receives Inaugural Edmond and Nancy Tomastik Prize in Differential Equations
The American Mathematical Society (AMS) has set up a prize named after UConn Mathematics Emeritus faculty member Ed Tomastik and his wife Nancy Tomastik. The first recipient is Professor Monica Vișan of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Please see the AMS announcement here.