An evening Mathematics Department honors ceremony on Tuesday, May 14, recognized 79 of the school's top math students and featured a talk, titled "Looking for Numbers in the Dark: Why Math is a Miracle," by teacher Hudson Harper.
Head of the Math Department Joe Cleary acknowledged the students gathered in Gilchrist Auditorium for the ceremony and asked each student to stand for recognition. Each honoree received a Barry Moran Excellence in Mathematics Certificate — named in honor of retired Loomis Chaffee math teacher Barry Moran — recognizing each individual's achievement, contributions, and commitment to the study of mathematics on the Island.
Senior Max Mongkalakorn, juniors Roy Lam and Jason Lee, and sophomore Aresh Pourkavoos also were recognized for receiving Distinguished Performance Citations from the American Mathematics Competition. The citations are presented to students placing in the top 5 percent of high school math students in the country who took this year's exam, administered by the Mathematical Association of America.
Hudson's presentation shared instances of math "miraculously" helping to define or describe something in the universe. Hudson told the story of mathematicians in the 1840s who determined the existence of the planet Pluto nearly 100 years before anyone was able to confirm its existence visually. Black holes also were defined mathematically long before they were visually recorded, and Hudson noted that the first photo of a black hole circulated just recently.
Although the vast majority of things in the universe are mathematically impossible to define or describe, Hudson said, he detailed how, in rare instances, math can be used to define something by using natural and rational numbers.
"So keep in mind," he advised, "anytime you are able to use math to describe something — you're beating the odds. It's a miracle!"
After Hudson's talk, Joe thanked him for his years of inspired teaching at Loomis. Hudson will embark upon a new career in data science at the end of the school year.
Students honored at the ceremony were:
Senior Elena Anderson
Junior Ryan Armstrong
Senior Christiana Bevilacqua
Junior Thomas Burris-Wells *
Sophomore Madison Carr
Senior Maria Fernanda Cassol
Senior Chun Hei Chan
Sophomore Clara Chen
Junior Xiangxiang Chen
Senior David Choung
Junior Steele Citrone
Senior Azoya Clarke
Senior Jacqueline Cleary
Junior Thomas Costello
Junior Calabria DeFazio
Senior Margarita Demkina
Junior Jenna Donohue
Sophomore Brett Donshik
Junior Kelly Eng
Junior Kaiser Garcia
Senior Nina Gildor
Senior Marleigh Giliberto
Senior Grayson Hall
Junior Isabelle Halsey
Senior Walker Hamilton
Senior Ann Marie Hannoush
Junior David Hanson
Junior Angus Hawley
Junior Julia Hoffman
Junior Anna Hurd
Junior Ryan Jones
Junior Min Jun Jung
Sophomore Kenta Kato
Junior Emma Keane
Junior Rayhab Khan
Junior Matthew Kilmurray
Junior Gabriele Kozik
Junior Grace Kulas
Junior Yeuk Yin Lam
Senior Julianna Lee
Freshman Sean Lee
Junior Peter Lena
Junior Ethan Levinbook
Junior Makayla McPherson
Freshman Zixuan Meng
Senior Micaela Mesite
Senior Suwijak Mongkalakorn
Senior Maia Paige
Junior Aarman Pannu
Freshman Park, Junghyun
Junior Su Min Park
Junior Yongwoo Park
Senior Yujung Park
Junior Eleanor Peters
Senior Mark Place
Sophomore Lily Potter
Sophomore Aresh Pourkavoos
Senior Sherly Quezada
Senior Jaden Rismay
Sophomore Sophie Rodner
Senior Terachet Rojrachsombat
Sophomore Adele Sales
Senior Qwanzi Samuels
Sophomore Peyton Sandridge
Junior Nikita Stepanov
Junior Jirat Suchato
Junior Neala Sweeney
Junior Emma Tishler
Senior Isabella Torbar
Senior Mark Valadez
Sophomore Nalinda Wanikpun
Junior Hanchi Weng
Sophomore Zhao Rong Weng
Senior Quincy Williams
Junior Yuechen Yang
Junior Baihan Zhang
Sophomore Junning Zhang
Senior Yiwen Zhou *
Sophomore Yu Zhou
* received two awards