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ASU Math Graduate Wins State Award

August 06, 2012

Emily Hendryx, a recent mathematics graduate of Angelo State University, received a first-place award for her research presentation at the 2012 annual meeting of the Texas Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) this summer in Dallas.

The award was for Student Presentation in Applied Mathematics, and Hendryx won for her research project “A Cable Equation Model of Electrical Signal Transmission in Non-Uniformly Deformed Nerve Cells.”  The presentation was the result of her 2011-12 ASU Student Research Fellowship project supervised by Dr. Karl Havlak, associate professor of mathematics. 

A native of Alpine, Hendryx graduated in May with her mathematics bachelor’s degree, and has been accepted into the Computational and Applied Mathematics graduate program at Rice University.  During her time at ASU, she received numerous scholarships and was inducted into the Alpha Chi national honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma physics national honor society and Pi Mu Epsilon mathematics national honor society.  She served as president of the ASU Mathematical Association, traveled with the Society of Physics Students Peer Pressure Team to perform physics demonstrations at schools across Texas, participated in mission trips and related ministries through Rams for Christ and the Baptist Student Ministry, and earned inclusion in Who’s Who Among Students at American Colleges and Universities. 

Hendryx also excelled in undergraduate research, earning selection to Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) programs at Arizona State University and Virginia Tech University.  She presented her findings at multiple venues, including the Texas MAA meeting, National Alpha Chi Conference, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and the Undergraduate Research Conference at the Interface of Biology and Mathematics. 

For ASU’s 2012 graduating class, Hendryx was the Distinguished Student Award winner for the College of Arts and Sciences. 

The Mathematical Association of America is the largest professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level.  Its more than 20,000 members include university, college and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists; statisticians; and many others in academia, government, business and industry.  The mission of the MAA is “to advance the mathematical sciences, especially at the collegiate level.”  More information is available online at http://maa.org/.