Massachusetts Theta Simmons College Chapter Report

Advisor: Donna L. Beers

PFC: David S. Browder

Number of New Members Inducted: 12 students

Number of Continuing Members: 6 students, 2 faculty

Describe the two most interesting or unusual chapter activities this year:

At our second annual induction ceremony held in December 2010, the President of Simmons College, Helen Drinan, and the Chair of the Mathematics and Statistics Department, David Novak, welcomed friends and relatives of the new inductees which highlighted the importance of this occasion. In brief remarks preceding the induction of the new members, the Chapter Adviser described the historical role of mathematics in the liberal arts and illustrated the breadth of mathematics today by describing research projects undertaken by the new inductees. A new activity we initiated this year was to host an annual spring Pi Mu Epsilon lecture. Our speaker was alumna Estella Kanevsky (Class of 2007) who recently completed her M.S. in Biostatistics at Yale University. Her talk focused on the central role of observational studies in her health research. The title of her talk was “The Use of Observational Studies to Analyze Breast and Brain Lesions.”

2011 Induction Ceremony

Do any of your chapter members plan to attend or present a paper at the 2011 PME national meeting at MathFest in Lexington, Kentucky?

Yes, Chapter Adviser Donna Beers attended the 2011 PME national meeting.

Do you have any news about current students or recent graduates, for example, scholarships or other awards, acceptances to graduate school, paper presentations at conferences?