Jayhawks compete in 2025-2026 math events
LAWRENCE — University of Kansas students competed this spring in math events at the local, state and national level.
KU Math Prize Competition
The 43rd annual KU Math Prize Competition, sponsored by the Department of Mathematics, took place in March. Open to all KU undergraduates, the written exam for each level covered six questions to be completed in three hours. Cash awards were presented to the top three winners at both levels.
The junior level was open to all undergraduates of non-senior standing and assumes a knowledge of first-year calculus. The winners of the junior level:
First place and top first-year student: Sky Doty-LaGrand, a freshman in mathematics from Topeka.
Second place: Eva Broksas, a freshman in mechanical engineering from Parkville, Missouri.
Third place: Divija Saini, a freshman in electrical engineering from Lenexa.
The senior level is open to all undergraduates and covers a range of standard topics of undergraduate math. The winner of the senior level:
First place: Arnav Jain, a senior in mathematics and computer science from Stilwell.
Second place: Maral Bat, a senior in mathematics and computer science from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Third place: Lauren D’Souza, a senior in mathematics and computer science from Overland Park.
Hailong Dao and Yuanqi Wang, professors of mathematics, were in charge of the competition.
Kansas Collegiate Math Competition
KU undergraduate students took fourth and eighth place in the team event at the 2026 Kansas Collegiate Math Competition, which was March 28 at Fort Hays State University. The competition is part of the yearly meeting of the Kansas section of the Mathematical Association of America.
The competition is team-based, with students working together in groups of two or three to complete 10 problems in three hours. Teams from undergraduate institutions in Kansas took part. Cash awards were given to the top teams.
Members of KU’s fourth-place team were Maral Bat; Thomas Savasten, a senior in mathematics and computer science from Edgerton; and Ansuman Sharma, a senior in mathematics and computer science from Visakhapatnam, India.
Eighth-place team members were Lauren D’Souza; Farrell Joswara, a senior in electrical engineering from Olathe; and Nischay Rawal, a sophomore in mathematics and computer science from Overland Park.
Reuven Hodges and Ruijie Yang, professors of mathematics, coached the team and assisted with the competition.
William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
The University of Kansas students participated along with over 3,900 other undergraduate students in the Mathematical Association of America’s William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. Called one of the toughest math competitions in the world, the Putnam exam is a mathematics competition open to all regularly enrolled undergraduates in colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. The competition took place in December.
Representing KU were Pat Hupert, a senior in mathematics and chemistry from Lawrence; Thomas Savasten; and Hudson Smith, a sophomore in aerospace engineering from Kansas City, Missouri.
Joonha Park and Reuven Hodges, professors of mathematics, conducted training sessions for the Putnam exam.
They all were recognized for their participation at the math department’s honors banquet.