With 24 undergraduate students graduating in May and four in August, the class of 1999 was outstanding. We don’t yet know how many will graduate in December, but it is quite possible that we may graduate more students this year than in any recent year.
The 28 graduates form an exceptionally distinguished set of students. Half of the graduates earned Latin Honors, including nine at summa cum laude with a minimum GPA of 3.9: Michael Bollinger, Jennifer Cox, Robert Farr Jr., Jesse Lacewell, Kelly McKinnie, Robert Meyers, Matthew Miller, Baron Peters and Donald Vaught. Three graduated magna cum laude with 3.8 to 3.9 GPAs, and two earned cum laude honors, 3.7 to 3.8.
In addition to the Latin Honors, six students earned department honors and nine students earned more than one undergraduate degree. In fact, Robert Myers earned three degrees—mathematics, physics and German.
The 1999 graduates are headed to some prestigious graduate schools for advanced study. Baron Peters (GPA 4.0) will attend the University of California-Berkeley for a PhD in chemical engineering, which is ranked No. 1 in that field. Kelly McKinnie will attend the University of Texas.
Robert Myers will attend UC-Berkeley to study complex analysis; Jennifer Cox (GPA 4.0) will attend George Washington University; and Matthew Miller is accepted at the University of Arizona.
A team from MU captured first place in the fourth annual Missouri MAA Collegiate Mathematics Competition from a field of 21 teams statewide. The competition, sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America, was held at Rockhurst College in Kansas City on April 8 and 9. Teams from Washington University placed second and third.
Postdoc William Banks, who coached the MU teams, calls the victory a great upset for Mizzou. “Washington University has historically won the competition, taking first and second place,” he says. “I am very proud of both teams from MU.”
