77th Annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
December 3, 2016 

The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is an annual contest for college students established in 1938. Substantial cash prizes are awarded to the top five teams and to the top five individuals. In 1997, the Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize was established to honor the top woman competitor. 

The 2016 Putnam exam will take place on Saturday, December 3, 2016. As usual, there will be two three-hour sessions starting at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., held in the Math Dept Conference Room, 16 Colchester Ave. While the competition for the prizes is very strong, all students should enjoy and benefit from the experience of taking part in the most prestigious mathematical contest in the country.

Registration forms listing participants are due by October 7 (so we have to mail ours by October 4). Here is some additional information about the competition:

  1. The Department provides lunch for all participants on the day of the competition at a nearby restaurant.
  2. Sample problems from recent competitions are available from members of the committee.
  3. Only “regularly enrolled undergraduate students” may participate (students have a lifetime maximum of 4 times). Registering at the outset guarantees that we will have a slot for the student; but he/she may decide, even at the last minute, not to come (it’s no problem!). Some students stay only for the morning session and lunch (which is OK too). Unregistered “walk-ins” may also participate (unregistered students may take the place of registered students who don’t show up too – so there are usually ample “walk-in” slots).
  4. Students must arrive by 9:50 a.m. to participate in the Competition. A student may not take the afternoon portion without first having attended the morning session.
  5. Each session consists of six (challenging) problems, most of which can be answered with calculus and a little linear algebra (and a healthy dose of ingenuity). Advanced course work is not required.
  6. The committee will hold one or two optional training sessions to review some potentially useful problem-solving skills. Solutions to past exams will be available for interested students. These sessions are low-key, fun and informal, where students take the lead in discussing practice problems (that we will circulate beforehand).
  7. The official Putnam website is: http://math.scu.edu/putnam/index.html. Another very useful web site for problems from some previous years (reworded slightly) and their solutions is: http://web.archive.org/web/20080124125203/www.kalva.demon.co.uk/putnam.html

 For more information or to register to participate, contact Prof. Richard Foote (richard.foote@uvm.edu)