This page gives information about honors degrees within the Department of Mathematics.  If you are looking for the Honors College, you can find information here.

The College of Arts and Science supervises departmental honors programs within the college and allows the Mathematics and Statistics Departments to continue the successful programs we have operated for many years. In brief, our programs provide more options than the usual departmental honors program within the college. We consider honors students to be those with a keen interest and ability in mathematics or statistics regardless of their major or year at Miami.  There need be no intent to actually graduate with departmental honors. For such a student the departments offer special honors courses and encourage participation in intercollegiate competitions and activities.  Many students have enjoyed considerable success in these endeavors and have benefited from the extra competence and confidence developed through such experiences.

The departmental Honors Coordinator is responsible for identifying honors students, inviting them to enroll in the honors program, and encouraging them to take part in appropriate activities. The most common bases for these invitations are outstanding performance in departmental classes or activities and recommendations by departmental faculty. However, any student who wants to be considered for membership in our honors program is encouraged to inquire in the department office.

In order to graduate with departmental honors, a student must apply to the Honors Coordinator for departmental honors status (Dr. Dan Pritikin in mathematics or Dr. Tom Fisher in statistics) and perform at least two of the following three items:

I. Complete an approved sequence of mathematics and statistics courses, including some course work at the 400 level, with a GPA of at least 3.5 overall math/stat courses. Meeting the MTH/STA course requirements of one of our math or stat degrees is the usual way to complete such a sequence.

II. Give a distinguished performance in a recognized mathematics or statistics activity. The activity could be a mathematics or statistics competition, or a standardized examination such as a GRE subject exam, or the writing of a paper resulting from an undergraduate research project.

III. Make a scholarly presentation about mathematics or statistics, preferably based on the results of an independent study or research project.

A graduating undergraduate applicant in Arts and Science meeting all three of I, II and III in the judgment of the Honors Coordinator qualifies for departmental honors in Mathematics and/or Statistics. For a student meeting only two of I, II and III, it will be up to the Honors Coordinator, in consultation with two other tenure track faculty in the department, as to whether the student is awarded departmental honors based on overall strength concerning I, II and III.

Deciding whether a student meets criteria I, II and/or III is generally a judgment call on the part of the faculty involved.

Please note that students who are not majoring in Mathematics and/or Statistics can meet these requirements and have done so.  The Honors Coordinator maintains a list of regularly accepted ways for meeting these basic requirements and also advises members of our program about their progress towards graduation with departmental honors.