Stanford participates in the Putnam Competition, an annual math contest for college students, each December.  Students can choose to get credit for participating by enrolling in the 1-unit Math 193: Polya Problem Solving Seminar in autumn quarter, but it is not required.  If you’re interested in participating or want to learn more, be sure to attend the first class.  (Look at ExploreCourses for the most up-to-date course and room information.)

Along with awards from the competition, the Polya seminar has been generously supported by Two Sigma Investments.  Their support allows us to give out cash prizes for the many students who performed excellently in the Putnam competition.  The Two Sigma/Mary Sunseri Awards are for outstanding performances by women in the Putnam.

Past Award Winners:  2013     ~     2012     ~     2011     ~     2010

2013
Putnam Awards (3rd Place Team): Vishal Arul, Ravi Fernando, and Sam Keller

Two Sigma Award for Mathematical Problem Solving: Vishal Arul, Herman Chau, Charles Chen, Jack Chen, Cynthia Day, Caroline Ellison, Ravi Fernando , Tony Jin, Sam Keller, Harry Levine, Lyuboslav Panchev, Boris Perkhounkov, Hieu Pham, Jeong Soo Sim, Bryce Taylor, Brian Wai, Lynnelle Ye, Zhivko Zhechev

Mary Sunseri Award: Cynthia Day, Caroline Ellison, Ingerid Fosli, Peng Hui How, Lynnelle Ye

2012
Putnam Awards: Arjun Puranik, Ravi Fernando, Sam Keller
 
Two Sigma Award for Mathematical Problem Solving: Vishal Arul, Ian Ball, Michael Celentano, Herman Chau, Jack Chen, Tri Dao Phuc Quang, Cynthia Day, Ravi Fernando, Zhuodong He, Brian Hooi, Peng Hui How, Tony Jin, Sam Keller, Zhi Kin Loke, Lyuboslav Panchev, Hieu Pham, Arjun Puranik, Marc Rasi, Chuanqi Shen, Jeong Soo Sim, Matthew Staib, Bryce Taylor, Brian Wai, Yushi Wang, Raymond Wu, Moor Xu, Lynnelle Ye, Renjie You, Zhivko Zhechev
 
Mary Sunseri Award: Cynthia Day, Lynnelle Ye

2011
Putnam Awards (4th Place Team): Ravi Fernando, Seok Hyeong Lee, Lyuboslav Panchev, Gyujin Oh

Two Sigma Award for Mathematical Problem Solving: Jeffrey Chen, Ravi Fernando, Samuel Keller, Seok Hyeong Lee, Sunkyu Lim, Zhi Kin Loke, Lyuboslav Panchev, Jae Hyun Park, Gregory Peairs, Gyujin Oh, Deyan Simeonov, Moor Xu, Renjie You

Mary Sunseri Award: Wendy Mu, Lynnelle Ye

2010
Putnam Awards: Seok Hyeong Lee (Putnam Fellow); Gyujin Oh (“Next Nine”), Marcello Herreshoff, Sam Keller, Pak Hin Lee, Sunkyu Lim, Zhi Kin Loke, Elina Robeva, Nathaniel Shar

Two Sigma Award for Mathematical Problem Solving: Marcello Herreshoff, Elina Robeva, Nathaniel Shar