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Recruiting
A Message from the Department Head
For each of us, the Purdue Mathematics Department is a special place. This year, and probably for several years to come, one of the major tasks for the department will be recruiting--the goal will be to convince others, who have not yet experienced it, how special the Purdue Mathematics Department is. We will be looking for talented individuals to become undergraduate mathematics majors, graduate students, and faculty in our department.
The department offers several different tracks for undergraduate mathematics majors, including the business option, the teaching option, and the actuarial science program, in addition to the more traditional core option. Our undergraduate students leave well prepared for the future whether it is a job or graduate school. Mathematics graduates have a very high placement rate, about 83% (just behind Computer Science), and last year all the actuarial students who were seeking them found jobs before graduation.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is predicting a significant shortage of junior high and high school math teachers over the next decade, a shortage that will probably result in even more opportunities for our graduates. In a recent speech, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley discussed the challenges our nation faces and the role mathematics plays. He asserted that raising the level of mathematics achievement for all children is critical for our future and observed that "Mathematics Equals Opportunity." This is true both on a national level and on an individual level. A key part of our efforts to recruit undergraduate majors is to bring this message to high school students: mathematics can be the path to opportunity for them!
Purdue's graduate mathematics program is one of the largest in the country--and one of the best. Changes in the graduate program over the past few years, such as the creation of the computational finance program, are aimed at improving the opportunities for our students to develop in areas that suit their goals. This spring, we will invite all admitted students to campus to meet a few faculty, current students, and recent graduates so that they can see first hand what Purdue has to offer. Further enhancements in the next year or two and what appears to be an improving job climate for both Master's level and Ph.D. level students should make our graduate programs even more attractive than they are currently.
Faculty recruitment is the key to our long term success. We need to attract faculty who, through their research and teaching, can maintain and enhance Purdue's excellence and thereby attract the best students and scholars. With the announcement that Professors Berkovitz and Douglas plan to retire in the next few years, it is clear that we must act to preserve our strength in applied mathematics. Purdue's pre-eminent programs in engineering and the sciences make it a natural place for a strong applied mathematics group. Indeed, we have several faculty who are working with others on campus and around the world on fascinating and pivotal problems involving applications of mathematics. To maintain our strength, we have begun a search for one or two senior faculty and several junior faculty who can lead the Center for Applied Mathematics in our department. The goal is to make applied mathematics at Purdue more visible to the rest of the university and to the nation. Our applied mathematics group has a vital role to play in the research effort of the university and in the educational program of our department. Our strength will be found in maintaining the connections among the pure and applied mathematicians in the department and with other researchers across campus and around the world.
While the financial contributions of the state of Indiana and our alumni and friends make it possible to do the things we do, ultimately, our department IS the faculty and undergraduate and graduate students that make it up. Our strength now comes from you and others who have been part of the department in the past, but our future depends on the incoming students and faculty. We can be successful in attracting talented people because we have a lot to offer: our recruiting efforts are aimed at helping people realize that Riley's assertion "Mathematics Equals Opportunity" is just a shorter version of "Mathematics at Purdue Equals Opportunity for You!"
We Need Your Assistance--Help Us "Sell" Purdue Mathematics!
Dr. Dennis Sorge, Outreach Coordinator for the School of Science, recently asked each department in the School to provide "selling points" for him to use in presentations to various audiences, including prospective undergraduate students and high school teachers.
Math Professors David Catlin, Undergraduate Recruitment Coordinator, and Jim Becker, Placement Liaison, came up with a list for Mathematics.
We invite all of our alumni and friends to become involved in "selling Purdue mathematics" to prospective math majors whenever an opportunity presents itself!
Selling Points for Mathematics at Purdue
- A math degree can be closely tied to various "real world" activities. At Purdue, a math major chooses from several options for focusing the major including:
- Business
- Applied math
- Math with computer science
- Math with statistics
- Math education
- Operations research
- Honors Math (often as preparation for graduate school)
- A very active Actuarial Science Program is offered jointly by the Mathematics and Statistics Departments.
- Math majors are very employable. A recent survey of School of Science graduates found that by the end of the summer, 83% of our graduates had found permanent employment and an additional 12% were attending graduate school, so that almost all math graduates were on solid career paths. Last year 100% of the actuarial science majors who were seeking employment found jobs before graduation. Among School of Science departments, only computer science (at 87%) has a higher placement rate.
- Purdue Mathematics majors have small classes! Although some of Purdue's calculus classes are large, there are special small calculus classes for mathematics, statistics, and actuarial science majors. All mathematics classes for majors beyond third semester calculus are taught in classes of 15 to 40 students.
- Our undergraduate majors have organized a Math Club, a Math Education Club, and an Actuary Club. The clubs provide opportunities for both social and academic/professional interactions among the majors. There were more than 25 presentations by external professionals to groups of mathematics, statistics, or actuarial science majors last year.
- Our graduate program ranks 6th in the nation in terms of the number of Math and Applied Math PhD's earned annually. This means that we offer a large number of graduate classes each semester. All classes are open to all qualified students, graduate or undergraduate, so students have virtually unlimited opportunity for mathematical growth.
- Purdue's mathematics faculty are highly ranked in a variety of national assessments (including National Research Council and U.S. News rankings), and all faculty members are accessible to students, both graduate and undergraduate.
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