84th William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

The 84th William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition will be held in two sessions: Part One, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., and Part Two, 3–6 p.m. To complete the exam, you must sit for both sessions. Registration is mandatory. Students interested in registering must e-mail Assistant Professor Goodson before November 19. More information on the competition, including rules and eligibility criteria, is available here.

The Putnam Competition began in 1938 as a competition between college and university mathematics departments. It has grown to be the preeminent undergraduate mathematics competition in the United States and Canada as well as the leading university-level mathematics exam in the world. Each year, more than 4,000 students spend two three-hour sessions solving 12 challenging mathematical problems. Prizes are awarded to the participants with the highest scores and to the departments of mathematics of the five institutions whose teams obtain the highest rankings. Cash prizes for the top five teams range from $25,000 to $5,000. Cash prizes for the top five students, honored as Putnam Fellows, are $2,500 each; other top students also receive prizes for their performance.

The Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize was established in 1992 to be “awarded periodically to a woman whose performance on the competition has been deemed particularly meritorious.” Recent winners of the Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize have received $1,000.