Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics
Encyclopedia
The Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics (HCSSiM) is a residential program for mathematically talented high school students. The program has been conducted each summer since 1971, with the exceptions of 1981 and 1996, and has more than 1500 alumni.
The program was created and is still headed by Professor David C. Kelly
. For a period of time Professor Don Goldberg was co-director of the program, and at a later period Sarah-Marie Belcastro was co-director.
The program is housed at Hampshire College
in Amherst
, Massachusetts
, and generally runs for six weeks from early July until mid-August. The program itself consists of lectures, study sessions, math workshops (general-knowledge classes), maxi-courses (three-week classes run by the senior staff members), and mini-courses (specialized shorter classes).
On a typical day, students spend the morning in class, have lunch together with the faculty, and then have several hours to use at their leisure. They return for the "Prime Time Theorem" (an hour-long talk on an interesting piece of mathematics given by a faculty member or a visitor), have dinner, and then spend a few hours solving problems.
Although the entire student body changes every year, HCSSiM has a number of well-established tradition
s. Some of the oldest of these traditions deal with the repeated use, in mathematical problems, jokes, and lectures, of the number 17
(and its multiples) and the Yellow Pig. These two traditions were started by Professor Kelly, who collects objects with yellow pigs on them and examples of the number 17 in print.
Many students go on to professional careers in mathematics. An occasional publication has resulted from work done at the program. Well-known alumni of the program include two MacArthur Fellows, Eric Lander
and Erik Winfree
, as well as Lisa Randall
, Dana Randall
, and Eugene Volokh
. Many alumni return to the campus for a few days around Yellow Pig's Day (July 17) of each year. This observance was formalized for 2006 in "Yellow Pig Math Days," which was conducted in observance of 2006 being the 34th offering of the HCSSiM Program (34 being a multiple of 17
).
The Summer Studies has been funded in the past by the American Mathematical Society
and the U.S. National Science Foundation
.
Other math programs have been organized loosely based on the Hampshire Program, including "The Université Mathématique d'Eté" by Daniel Elliott Loeb at SUPAERO 1991 and ENSAM
1992.
s at Hampshire College and HCSSiM. The day is marked by exchanging gifts relating to yellow pigs or mathematics, singing yellow pig songs, and playing Ultimate
.
Yellow Pigs Day was started by Michael Spivak
and David C. Kelly
. Spivak's published books include easter egg references to yellow pigs, and Kelly maintains an extensive collection of yellow pigs. In 2006, Hampshire College held a Yellow Pig Math Days conference, as part of the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics program.
The program was created and is still headed by Professor David C. Kelly
David Kelly (mathematician)
David C. Kelly is an associate professor of mathematics at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He directs the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics, and has been involved in the organization of "Yellow Pig's Day," an annual celebration of mathematics...
. For a period of time Professor Don Goldberg was co-director of the program, and at a later period Sarah-Marie Belcastro was co-director.
The program is housed at Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
in Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and generally runs for six weeks from early July until mid-August. The program itself consists of lectures, study sessions, math workshops (general-knowledge classes), maxi-courses (three-week classes run by the senior staff members), and mini-courses (specialized shorter classes).
On a typical day, students spend the morning in class, have lunch together with the faculty, and then have several hours to use at their leisure. They return for the "Prime Time Theorem" (an hour-long talk on an interesting piece of mathematics given by a faculty member or a visitor), have dinner, and then spend a few hours solving problems.
Although the entire student body changes every year, HCSSiM has a number of well-established tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
s. Some of the oldest of these traditions deal with the repeated use, in mathematical problems, jokes, and lectures, of the number 17
17 (number)
17 is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is prime.In spoken English, the numbers 17 and 70 are sometimes confused because they sound similar. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 17 vs 70...
(and its multiples) and the Yellow Pig. These two traditions were started by Professor Kelly, who collects objects with yellow pigs on them and examples of the number 17 in print.
Many students go on to professional careers in mathematics. An occasional publication has resulted from work done at the program. Well-known alumni of the program include two MacArthur Fellows, Eric Lander
Eric Lander
Eric Steven Lander is a Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , a member of the Whitehead Institute, and director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard who has devoted his career toward realizing the promise of the human genome for medicine. He is co-chair of U.S...
and Erik Winfree
Erik Winfree
Erik Winfree is an American computer scientist, bioengineer, and associate professor at California Institute of Technology. He is a leading researcher into DNA computing and DNA nanotechnology....
, as well as Lisa Randall
Lisa Randall
Lisa Randall is an American theoretical physicist and a leading expert on particle physics and cosmology. She works on several of the competing models of string theory in the quest to explain the fabric of the universe. Her most well known contribution to the field is the Randall-Sundrum model,...
, Dana Randall
Dana Randall
Dana Randall is a professor of theoretical computer science at Georgia Tech. Her primary research interest is analyzing algorithms for counting problems using Markov chains. One of her important contributions to this area is a decomposition theorem for analyzing Markov chains. Randall was born in...
, and Eugene Volokh
Eugene Volokh
Eugene Volokh is an American legal commentator and the Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law...
. Many alumni return to the campus for a few days around Yellow Pig's Day (July 17) of each year. This observance was formalized for 2006 in "Yellow Pig Math Days," which was conducted in observance of 2006 being the 34th offering of the HCSSiM Program (34 being a multiple of 17
17 (number)
17 is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is prime.In spoken English, the numbers 17 and 70 are sometimes confused because they sound similar. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 17 vs 70...
).
The Summer Studies has been funded in the past by the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
and the U.S. National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
.
Other math programs have been organized loosely based on the Hampshire Program, including "The Université Mathématique d'Eté" by Daniel Elliott Loeb at SUPAERO 1991 and ENSAM
École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers
Arts et Métiers ParisTech is the French leading engineering school in the fields of mechanics and industrialization.The school trained 85,000 engineers since its foundation in 1780 by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt....
1992.
Yellow Pigs Day
Yellow Pigs Day, held annually on July 17, is a humorous celebration created and observed by mathematicianMathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
s at Hampshire College and HCSSiM. The day is marked by exchanging gifts relating to yellow pigs or mathematics, singing yellow pig songs, and playing Ultimate
Ultimate (sport)
Ultimate is a sport played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football or rugby...
.
Yellow Pigs Day was started by Michael Spivak
Michael Spivak
Michael David Spivak is a mathematician specializing in differential geometry, an expositor of mathematics, and the founder of Publish-or-Perish Press. He is the author of the five-volume Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry. He received a Ph.D...
and David C. Kelly
David Kelly (mathematician)
David C. Kelly is an associate professor of mathematics at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He directs the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics, and has been involved in the organization of "Yellow Pig's Day," an annual celebration of mathematics...
. Spivak's published books include easter egg references to yellow pigs, and Kelly maintains an extensive collection of yellow pigs. In 2006, Hampshire College held a Yellow Pig Math Days conference, as part of the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics program.
Other alumni
- Toby Ayer, Rhodes scholarRhodes ScholarshipThe Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
and lecturer at MITMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in... - Bram CohenBram CohenBram Cohen is an American computer programmer, best known as the author of the peer-to-peer BitTorrent protocol, as well as the first file sharing program to use the protocol, also known as BitTorrent...
, developer of BitTorrent - Lenore Cowen, professor of computer science at Tufts UniversityTufts UniversityTufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
- Marie desJardins, professor of computer science at UMBC
- Alan Edelman, professor of mathematics at MIT
- Paul Edelman, professor of mathematics and professor of law at Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
- Josh Greene, winner of the Morgan PrizeFrank and Brennie Morgan Prize for Outstanding Research in Mathematics by an Undergraduate StudentThe Morgan Prize is an annual award given to an undergraduate student in the US, Canada, or Mexico who demonstrates superior mathematics research. The $1,000 award, endowed by Mrs. Frank Morgan of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1995...
- Paul Feit, professor of mathematics at University of Texas of the Permian BasinUniversity of Texas of the Permian BasinThe University of Texas of the Permian Basin is located in Odessa, Texas. It was authorized by the Texas Legislature in 1969 and founded in 1973...
- Glenn Ellison, professor of economics at MIT
- Daniel Elliott Loeb, financier at Susquehanna International GroupSusquehanna International GroupThe Susquehanna International Group of Companies is a privately held global investment, trading and technology firm servicing securities markets worldwide...
- Neil ImmermanNeil ImmermanNeil Immerman is an American theoretical computer scientist, a professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst...
, professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst - Susan LandauSusan LandauSusan Landau is an American mathematician and engineer, as of 2011, a Visiting Scholar at the Computer Science Department, Harvard University....
, engineer at Sun MicrosystemsSun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982... - Eric LanderEric LanderEric Steven Lander is a Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , a member of the Whitehead Institute, and director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard who has devoted his career toward realizing the promise of the human genome for medicine. He is co-chair of U.S...
, Science advisor to President Obama - Robert Lipshutz, vice president of AffymetrixAffymetrixAffymetrix is a company that manufactures DNA microarrays; it is based in Santa Clara, California, United States. The company was founded by Dr. Stephen Fodor in 1992. It began as a unit in Affymax N.V...
- Jim Propp, professor of mathematics at University of Massachusetts LowellUniversity of Massachusetts LowellThe University of Massachusetts Lowell is a public university in Lowell, Massachusetts, and part of the University of Massachusetts system...
- JP Massar, MIT Blackjack TeamMIT Blackjack TeamThe MIT Blackjack Team was a group of students and ex-students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, and other leading colleges who used card-counting techniques and more sophisticated strategies to beat casinos at blackjack worldwide...
founder - Lisa RandallLisa RandallLisa Randall is an American theoretical physicist and a leading expert on particle physics and cosmology. She works on several of the competing models of string theory in the quest to explain the fabric of the universe. Her most well known contribution to the field is the Randall-Sundrum model,...
, professor of physicsPhysicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country... - Barry Nalebuff, professor at Yale University School of ManagementYALERapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
- Larry Riddle, professor of mathematics at Agnes Scott CollegeAgnes Scott CollegeAgnes Scott College is a private undergraduate college in the United States. Agnes Scott's campus lies in downtown Decatur, Georgia, nestled inside the perimeter of the bustling metro-Atlanta area....
- Jessica Riskin, professor of history at Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
- John Rothchild, professor of law and associate dean at Wayne State University Law School
- Seth SchoenSeth SchoenSeth David Schoen is senior staff technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a technology civil rights organisation, and has been actively involved in discussing digital copyright law and encryption since the 1990s...
, technologist at the Electronic Frontier FoundationElectronic Frontier FoundationThe Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States... - Loren Shure, technologist at the MathWorks
- Greg Sorkin, research staff member in the mathematical sciences at IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
. - Ann Trenk, professor of mathematics at Wellesley College
- Jade Vinson, winner of the Morgan PrizeFrank and Brennie Morgan Prize for Outstanding Research in Mathematics by an Undergraduate StudentThe Morgan Prize is an annual award given to an undergraduate student in the US, Canada, or Mexico who demonstrates superior mathematics research. The $1,000 award, endowed by Mrs. Frank Morgan of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1995...
- Eugene VolokhEugene VolokhEugene Volokh is an American legal commentator and the Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law...
, professor of law at UCLAUCLA School of LawThe UCLA School of Law is the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles. It has been approved by the American Bar Association since 1950. It joined the Association of American Law Schools in 1952.- History :... - Edward Scheinerman, professor of Mathematics at Johns Hopkins University