William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Contest

The competition began in 1938 and is designed to stimulate a healthy rivalry in mathematical studies in colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. It exists because Mr. William Lowell Putnam had a profound conviction in the value of organized team competition in regular college studies. Mr. Putnam, a member of the Harvard class of 1982, wrote an article for the December 1921 issue of the Harvard Graduates' Magazine in which he described the merits of an intellectual intercollegiate competition. To establish such a competition, his widow, Elizabeth Lowell Putnam, created a trust fund in 1927 known as the William Lowell Putnam Intercollegiate Memorial Fund. The first competition supported by this fund was in the field of English, and a few years later, a second experimental competition was held, this time in mathematics between two institutions. It was not until after Mrs. Putnam's death in 1935 that the examination assumed its present form and was placed under the administration of the Mathematical Association of America.

The competition is open only to regularly enrolled undergraduates in colleges and universities of the United States and Canada who have not yet received a college degree. No individual may participate in the competition more than four times. A college or university with at least three registered entrants obtains a team rank through the positions achieved by three designated individual contestants. Old problems, solutions, and results are available online.

Oklahoma State's high scorers on the Putnam Exam since 1984 (where the year denotes the year in which the exam was taken):

  • 1984: David Patocka
  • 1985: David Patocka, John Garnett, and Christine Miller
  • 1986: L. Craig Cox
  • 1987: Kent Swearingen
  • 1988: Michael Oehrtman
  • 1989: Jennifer Williams
  • 1990: Michael Oberle and Michael Oerhtman
  • 1991: Michael Oberle
  • 1992: Eric Gindrup
  • 1993: Eric Gindrup
  • 1994: Kelly Wichert
  • 1995: Jeffrey Whitworth
  • 1996: Jerry Moore
  • 1997: Kyle Wichert
  • 1998: Brent Schartung
  • 1999: Brian Fisher
  • 2000: Jason Horn
  • 2001: Jason Horn
  • 2002: Ryan Scott
  • 2003: Jason Horn
  • 2004: Liangkun Li
  • 2005: Michael Kelly
  • 2006: Liangkun Li
  • 2007: Brandon Tomson
  • 2008: Carlos Bernal
  • 2009: Markus Vasquez

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