IUPUI Math Students Place in Top 15 Percent at National Putnam Competition

Time magazine called it the “World’s Toughest Math Test.” Mathematics majors Joel Martin, Igor Minevich and Elizabeth Sweeney might agree. The IUPUI team, coached by Associate Professor Evgeny Mukhin, placed 66th among the 545 colleges and universities that participated in the 68th annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.

“I’m extremely proud of this year’s team and very impressed with their outstanding placement,” said Mukhin, who has coached IUPUI’s Putnam team for five years.

“Normally, students require several years of preparation before they can successfully solve Putnam problems. Joel, Igor and Elizabeth offered tremendous dedication, perseverance and enthusiasm. They are outstanding mathematics students of whom the entire campus should be proud.”

The Putnam is a math contest for college students, administered by the Mathematical Association of America. It is intended to test creativity as well as technical competence in undergraduate-level mathematics. The six-hour examination contains 12 problems; each problem is graded on a basis of zero to 10 points for a maximum score of 120 points.

According to Mukhin, Time magazine is right; it’s a difficult test. The average score each year for the overall exam is in the range of one or two points, and more than half of the competitors earn no points altogether. This year’s competition included more than 3,600 students from across North America.

Martin and Minevich each placed among the top 500 contestants, earning them individual spots in the top 15 percent. Both students will graduate in May and plan to pursue graduate degrees in mathematics. Minevich is headed to Brown University, where he will study pure mathematics in the Ph.D. program. Sweeney is a junior, who was honored recently as one of IUPUI’s Top 100 students.

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