Teaching & Learning

USU Professor to Explore Math as 'Our Sixth Sense' in USU Honors 2022 Last Lecture

The Utah State University Honors Program presents the 47th Annual Honors Last Lecture featuring David Brown, the 2022 Honors Outstanding Professor. Brown will deliver a lecture titled “Our Sixth Sense: Math” from 3-5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, in the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall on USU’s Logan campus.

Brown, a professor in the College of Science’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, earned his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Colorado Denver. Brown’s research focuses on the connections between graph theory, matrix theory and order theory, but he is also interested in analyzing results from the frontier of discrete math to identify potential areas for further investigation by undergraduate researchers. As a former competitive body builder, Brown stays active in the gym and outdoors, devoting his free time to rock climbing and cycling.

In this year’s Honors Last Lecture, Brown will connect the effectiveness of mathematics within the physical sciences to its place in our everyday lives, arguing that “mathematics is not a tool we should learn to use through practice and learning, but rather a sense that we can hone”—our “sixth sense.”

Initiated in 1976, the Honors Last Lecture is a longstanding USU tradition that showcases the institution’s excellent teaching by featuring one student-selected faculty member each year. Honors students nominate tenured faculty whose teaching and mentoring have made marked impacts on their lives. A committee of Honors students interviews nominees and selects one exceptional professor to imagine and deliver what might be a “last lecture” at USU, if they had only one more to give.

“This event engages the entire community — students, faculty, alumni, friends and other stakeholders — in celebrating the teachers and mentors who have transformed the experience of our students here at USU,” said Kristine Miller, professor of English and executive director of the Utah State University Honors Program.

The lecture is free and open to the public and will be followed immediately by a reception in Brown’s honor at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art.

CONTACT

Kristine Miller
Executive Director, Professor
USU Honors Program
435-797-3637
kristine.miller@usu.edu


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