UWG
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Contact: University Communications & Marketing
Phone (678) 839-6464, FAX (678) 839-6645
ucm@westga.edu
Bockelman one of top mathematicians
February 19, 2003
CARROLLTON, GA - Most teenagers are interested in listening to their CDs, playing sports, hanging out with their friends, and graduating from high school. But not 17-year old Brian Bockelman. Bockelman is concentrating on graduating from high school next summer and from the University of West Georgia next winter.
But before he graduates, Bockelman wants to earn himself a few awards for the University to remember him by.
To begin with, he attended the joint meetings of the American Mathematics Society and the Mathematical Association of America in Baltimore, Maryland from Jan.16-18. The meetings are the largest annual mathematics conference in the U.S., and professional mathematicians from all ranges of schools and companies attend. He is the only UWG student to ever have research accepted at this meeting.
His
presentation was one of 107 that were evaluated by a committee of mathematicians
on the basis of mathematical content and presentation. Ten were chosen
as the best, and Bockelman’s was one of them. The 10 were not ranked
against each other.
“Being selected as one of the top 10 is an extremely prestigious award,” says Bockelman. “Just to be able to show up was a great opportunity for me. I feel that winning the national competition places me as one of the top undergraduate mathematicians in the U.S. right now.”
In addition to his 23-hour class load, Bockelman also works as a tutor in the Honor’s College and is a student assistant for Information Technology Services (ITS). He is also an active member of the Gunn Hall residence hall council and a team leader for the Mathematical Contest in Modeling.
UWG President Beheruz Sethna taught Bockelman in an Honors marketing class during the fall semester. “Brian is an outstanding student. There were times when I started to explain a calculus or statistical derivation to the class, only to find that Brian was way ahead of the explanation, and had arrived at the answer already!” says Sethna. “There is no question that he has the ability to excel; however, it is equally important to know that he also has the perseverance and dedication to excel.”
Bockelman will also be competing in the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research in March and the National Technology and Social Sciences Conference in April.
Bockelman attends South Gwinnett High School in Snellville and as a student in the Advanced Academy of Georgia, he is also a University junior. The Advanced Academy of Georgia is one of less than 10 programs in the United States which provide opportunities for gifted and talented high school juniors and seniors to earn concurrent high school and college credit in a full-time residential program. His future plans are to attend graduate school in mathematics, eventually earning his Ph.D.
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