Recent awards
Past undergraduate awards (McShane, Floyd, and Putnam prizes)
Thomas Koberda Elected Fellow of the American Mathematical Society
November 23, 2024
University of Virginia professor of mathematics Thomas Koberda has been elected as a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, one of the most prestigious honors in the field. Recognized for his significant contributions to group theory, topology, and mathematical logic, Koberda joins an elite group of mathematicians whose work has profoundly advanced the discipline.
2025 Alice T. Schafer Prize Winners Announced
November 20, 2024
Marie-Hélène Tomé, a participant in the 2023 REU program in number theory at the University of Virginia, has been named one of the winners of the 2025 Alice T. Schafer Prize for Excellence in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Woman. The REU program was organized by Professor Ken Ono. Congratulations to Marie-Hélène Tomé for this outstanding achievement!
The Alice T. Schafer Prize is awarded annually to recognize the exceptional contributions of undergraduate women in mathematics. The awards will be presented at the annual AMS meeting in January. More details can be found here.
GTA Teaching Awards
June 27, 2024
We are pleased to recognize Louisa Liles and Valentina Zapata Castro for winning the 2023-24 Outstanding Mathematics Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. Congratulations!
Thomas Koberda Receives Shannon Mid-Career Fellowship
June 7, 2024
Thomas Koberda has been awarded a Shannon Mid-Career Fellowship by the Provost’s office, starting fall 2024. Congratulations!
More information and a list of 2023 Fellows is here
Catherine Cossaboom is Awarded Goldwater Scholarship
April 17, 2024
Catherine Cossaboom, a third-year math (and cognitive science) major, has been awarded a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship, one of only two recipients this year at UVa and among 508 nationwide. Here is the UVA Today article. Congratulations, Catherine!
Darien Farnham Wins NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
April 8, 2024
Congratulations to Darien Farnham, who has won an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!
Valia Gazaki Wins 2024 Alumni Board of Trustees Teaching Award
April 2, 2024
Valia Gazaki was awarded the 2024 Alumni Board of Trustees Teaching Award, selected from nominees across the University.
David Chasteen-Boyd wins an All-University Graduate Teaching Award
April 1, 2024
We are happy to announce that David Chasteen-Boyd, a graduate student, is one of this year’s All-University Graduate Teaching Award winners. This award honors students from all disciplines who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in undergraduate instruction and includes a $500 prize.
UVA Math PhD Weinan Zhang Wins 2023 ICCM Best Thesis Gold Prize
March 20, 2024
2023 UVA math PhD Weinan Zhang, now a postdoc at the University of Hong Kong, will be awarded a Gold Prize for the 2023 ICCM Best Thesis Award, established by S.-T. Yau. The award, which comes with a prize of 50,000 RMB, recognizes the best PhD thesis in mathematics by a student of Chinese descent.
Ken Ono elected to the Indian Academy of Sciences
March 20, 2024
Ken Ono has been elected an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences starting 2024.
Thomas Koberda Receives Simons Fellowship
March 20, 2024
This spring, Thomas Koberda was awarded a prestigious Simons Fellowship to support his research. The Simons Fellows program extends academic leaves from one term to a full year, enabling recipients to focus solely on research for the long periods often necessary for significant research advances. Congratulations!
Louisa Liles Awarded the Roselle-Huneke Prize
March 2, 2024
Our Ph.D. student, Louisa Liles, has been honored with the Roselle-Huneke Award (similar to the usual Dissertation Fellowships, but specifically for mathematics students). The award not only recognizes Louisa’s exceptional work in quantum topology and knot invariants but also provides support for ongoing research.
Lam Nguyen receives NSF Graduate Fellowship
August 19, 2023
One of our incoming first-year graduate students, Lam Nguyen, has been awarded an NSF scholarship. Lam hopes to explore hyperbolic geometry and study groups acting on hyperbolic space under the guidance of Prof. Maloni. We warmly congratulate Lam on this significant accomplishment and look forward to witnessing his contributions to the field.
David Winters gets Graduate Fellowship
May 31, 2023
We are thrilled to announce that our Masters student, David Winters, has secured second place among the recipients of the Terrill Graduate Fellowship. The Phi Sigma Kappa Foundation sponsors this scholarship competition and will supplement David’s student fellowship that he will receive from Georgia Tech. David will be continuing his Ph.D. studies in mathematics at Georgia Tech.
David recently graduated from the University of Virginia, where he earned a Master’s degree in Mathematics. His thesis, “4-dimensional 2-handlebodies and topological invariants,” was completed and successfully defended under the guidance of You Qi.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to David on this achievement and wish him every success as he continues his academic journey.
2023 Undergraduate Award Winners
April 26, 2023
The Mathematics Department is pleased to announce the following prize winners for the 2022-2023 year:
- E.J. McShane Prize:
- Zachary Carlini
- Edwin E. Floyd Prize:
- Catherine Cossaboom
- Samuel Goldberg
- Tanner Leonard
- Harry (Jicheng) Li
- Declan Stacy
Zac Carlini Awarded NSF Graduate Fellowship and McShane Prize
April 26, 2023
Our graduating senior undergrad, Zac Carlini, has won an NSF Graduate Fellowship and will be attending Yale graduate school in mathematics. Additionally, Zac has been awarded the McShane Prize this year.
Zac’s DMP thesis consists of two research papers, one on i-quantum groups and another on Kazhdan-Lusztig bases for Hecke algebra modules. His work on i-quantum groups provides a new formulation and short conceptual proof to the Serre relations and Serre-Lusztig relations.
We are incredibly proud of Zac’s achievements and look forward to following his continued success at Yale. Congratulations, Zac!
Yaolong Shen receives the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Dissertation Fellowship
March 21, 2023
Yaolong Shen, a graduate student at our department, has been awarded the highly competitive Jefferson Scholars Foundation Dissertation Fellowship for next year - congratulations Yaolong on this remarkable achievement!
Professor Ben Hayes honored for his research achievements in 2022
February 4, 2023
The University of Virginia honored faculty members across Grounds for their outstanding research and scholarship on Tuesday at the fourth annual Research Achievement Awards, held at The Pavilion at the Boar’s Head Resort.
Professor Ben Hayes was among the 2022 awardees of the NSF CAREER award.
Professor Ono Honored by the University of Chicago
February 3, 2023
In May, Ono will receive the 2023 University of Chicago Alumni Award for Professional Achievement for his research in algebra, combinatorics and number theory. More details here.
Former UVA REU student receives the AWM 2023 Schafer Prize
December 7, 2022
2022 UVa REU student Faye Jackson has been awarded the 2023 Alice T. Schafer Prize by the Association for Women in Mathematics. The award recognizes an outstanding undergraduate woman in mathematics.
Slava Krushkal named a 2023 Fellow of the American Mathematical Society
December 6, 2022
Congratulations to our colleague Slava Krushkal who was named an AMS Fellow for contributions to low-dimensional topology and, in particular, the topology of 4-manifolds!
Professor Ono Elected to Board of IAS
December 5, 2022
Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute for Advanced Study has been the academic home of Albert Einstein and a collection of the world’s most influential scholars in mathematics and physics since its founding in 1930. There have been more than 8,000 members affiliated with the IAS, including 34 Nobel Laureates and 42 Fields Medalists. Ken Ono, the University of Virginia’s Marvin Rosenblum Professor of Mathematics, will join the IAS Board of Trustees in January 2023.
Former UVA REU student receives 2023 AMS-MAA-SIAM Morgan Prize
November 3, 2022
Letong (Carina) Hong, formerly of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), receives the 2023 AMS-MAA-SIAM Morgan Prize for solving conjectures and proven important results in combinatorics, number theory, and probability. Hong participated in the REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) at University of Virginia. The prize is made jointly by the American Mathematical Society (AMS), the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).
Three of the six MAA Distinguished Lecturers 2022-2023
September 19, 2022
Three of the six Math MAA Distinguished Lecturers 2022-2023 have UVA connections: Karen Parshall, Commonwealth Professor of Mathematics and History; Ken Ono, Chairman and Rosenblum Professor of Mathematics; and Della Dumbaugh, Professor of Mathematics from University of Richmond and 1994 UVA Math PhD.
UVA Today article about Spencer Martin, class of 2022
April 25, 2022
UVA Today assembled a profile about Spencer Martin, co-winner of the 2022 MacShane Prize. Congratulations to Spencer and his DMP thesis advisor, Valia Gazaki.
Two graduate students receive Jefferson Fellowships
April 20, 2022
Two of our graduate students have been awarded Jefferson Fellowships for next year. Nhan Nguyen is the first recipient of the Roselle-Huneke Award in Mathematics (similar to the usual Dissertation Fellowships, but specifically for mathematics students), and Jiajun Yan is one of the first cohort of GSAS Jefferson Fellows, who are supported with a fellowship in their final year of the PhD program, and then spend one postdoctoral year working with the Engagements program.
Sara Maloni named Mead Honored Professor
April 18, 2022
Congratulations to Sara Maloni who has been named a Mead Honored Professor for 2022-2023.
Hand-picked by the deans, Mead Honored Professors lead creative and memorable Dream Idea projects that enrich the collegiate experience.
Faculty Spotlight: Karen Parshall
March 23, 2022
Professor Karen Parshall’s new book, “The New Era in American Mathematics, 1920-1950,” is a deeply researched dive into the development of math during a trying period in this country. “The book shows that while these mathematicians were doing mathematical work,” Parshall said, “they were improving their community, they were fighting political battles, they were figuring out how to absorb émigrés from Europe during World War II, they were trying to figure out how they, as mathematicians, could support the United States’ war effort in World War II. More details here.
Ben Hayes Wins an NSF CAREER Award
January 27, 2022
Our colleague Ben Hayes has won a prestigious NSF CAREER Award. This well deserved award comes with a significant $400,000 NSF grant. Congratulations!