This is the highest honor bestowed on a graduating senior. 

In the disquiet of an emergency room, on the floor of the University Senate or across the table from a struggling math student, the five finalists for the 2023 University of Maryland medalist advocated, empowered and changed their university and world.

The highest honor bestowed on a graduating senior, the university medal commends academic achievement, service to the community and exceptional character. Finalists earned at least a 3.96 GPA and 60 or more credits during their undergraduate career at UMD.

For Sriya Potluri, mathematics is as universal a language as the spoken word—and one she uses fluently. As a mentor, researcher, accomplished student and peer, Potluri has relied on math to explore her passion for life sciences, connect with classmates, discover her talents as a leader and to help others find success.

A mathematics major in the Integrated Life Sciences honors program with a 4.0 GPA, Potluri has bridged math and science to contribute to integral research—including four publications—for mathematics Lecturer Wiseley Wong and Distinguished University Professor of biology William Fagan, where she developed a mathematical disease model for optimal resource allocation. Among her awards and scholarships, she was awarded the Presidential Scholarship.

“In the 11 years I have been teaching, I have never come across a pre-med student with such a strong ability in mathematics,” said Wong. “The intuition she is developing from problem solving in mathematics will be invaluable to the medical research she does in the future.”

Outside of the lab, Potluri was a mainstay in Maryland’s Math Club, where she helped shape the program as president. She tutored students in math throughout her undergraduate experience; during the pandemic, she partnered with a nonprofit to offer a free virtual summer program for middle school students. Potluri will matriculate to the M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine after graduation.

Written by Maggie Haslam

UMD’s 49 scholarships in the past 15 years rank No. 1 in the nation.

Deven Bowman, a junior physics and mathematics double-degree student at the University of Maryland, has been awarded a 2023 scholarship by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, which encourages students to pursue advanced study and research careers in the sciences, engineering and mathematics.

Bowman, as well as UMD bioengineering majors Corinne Martin and Neel Panchwagh, are among 413 Goldwater Scholars selected from 1,267 nominees nationally. Goldwater Scholars receive one- or two-year scholarships that cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to $7,500 per year.

Over the last 15 years, UMD’s nominations yielded 49 scholarships—the most in the nation. The Goldwater Foundation has honored 79 UMD winners and five honorable mentions since the program’s first award was given in 1989.

“We are immensely proud of all that Deven, Corinne and Neel have accomplished to this point and the bright futures ahead of them. Their success is a win for everyone at the University of Maryland and highlights the commitment of the university to provide opportunities for our students to advance knowledge in their research disciplines and address grand challenges that impact people and communities, both locally and globally,” said Robert Infantino, associate dean of undergraduate education in the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. Infantino has led UMD’s Goldwater Scholarship nominating process since 2001.

Bowman started working remotely in a UMD research group the summer before his freshman year—during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He spent the next two years in that group led by Eun-Suk Seo, a professor of physics with a joint appointment in the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, studying the cosmic ray spectrum by fitting physically motivated models to data and investigating the connections to atmospheric neutrinos.

This research resulted in a first-author paper published in the journal Advances in Space Research, as well as a co-authored paper and a conference proceeding.

In summer 2021, Bowman joined the lab of Professor Steve Rolston, chair of UMD’s Department of Physics and Joint Quantum Institute Fellow, where he continues to work today on long-distance quantum communication.

Taking advantage of an eight-mile-long fiber optic cable buried on campus, the researchers in Rolston’s lab want to send polarization-encoded quantum information through the fiber for long distances. However, optical fibers can perturb and scramble the polarization signals due to stresses and temperature variations along the path, especially for long fibers like this one.  

To address this challenge, Bowman first measured the amount of variation in the signal and then devised a feedback system to correct for the perturbations of the fiber and the environment. Then, he designed two unique, complex polarimeters to compensate for signal drift and allow for continuous calibration. He presented this work at the Frontiers in Optics+Laser Science conference in 2022.

“Over my career, I have interacted with many undergraduates and graduate students—and it is clear Deven has an exceptionally bright future,” Rolston said. “He is highly motivated and very self-sufficient in both understanding the science and figuring out technical solutions.”

Outside the lab, Bowman spent time tutoring two high school students in math, science and English and advised them on preparing for college for the past three years. He also competed in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition in 2021.

Bowman spent the spring 2022 semester studying abroad in Italy through the Maryland-in-Florence (PHYS) program. There, he took three classes taught by UMD Physics Professor Emeritus Luis Orozco, who has since become a key physics mentor for Bowman.

“Studying in Florence, Italy, was a great opportunity to delve into advanced physics coursework, form enduring professional relationships and benefit from the unique experience of touring the gravitational wave detector Virgo,” Bowman said.

Visiting Virgo also set Bowman on a new research path for the coming summer, where he’ll work at Caltech on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the U.S.-based gravitational wave detector, as part of a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.

During his time at UMD, Bowman received the President’s Scholarship and the Angelo Bardasis Scholarship from the Department of Physics.

After graduation, Bowman plans to pursue a Ph.D. in physics, following in his father’s footsteps. Bowman’s father Steven received his M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from UMD in 1980 and 1986, respectively. His mother Anuradha is also a Terp, receiving her B.S. in physics in 1986 and M.A. in geography in 1997 from UMD.

“Their unwavering support for my education has been paramount to my success thus far,” Bowman said of his parents. “Their support played a vital role when I first sought out research opportunities. Their encouragement helped me take myself seriously as a researcher and gave me the confidence to speak up in meetings, ask questions and seek help when confused. I hope that my parents will continue to be active in my academic life and we can continue to connect over our shared passion for physics.”

Written by Abby Robinson

Clarence Lam, Isaac Mammel and Daniel Yuan earned a No. 4 ranking for UMD among 456 institutions in one of the most prestigious mathematics contests for undergraduates in North America.

On a chilly Saturday in December 2022, 26 University of Maryland undergraduates made their way across campus to a large classroom in the John S. Toll Physics Building. Equipped with only pencils and scrap paper, the group participated in one of the toughest and most preeminent math contests for undergraduates in North America: the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.

The results were announced months later in February and UMD placed fourth—behind only MIT, Harvard and Stanford—out of 456 competing institutions. This is UMD’s best ranking in more than four decades. 

“We were all thrilled with the amazing achievement of our Putnam team,” said Doron Levy, the chair of UMD’s Department of Mathematics. “This accomplishment reflects and significantly increases our ability to attract top talent to Maryland.”

The top three student scores from each institution are added together to determine the winning schools. Participants are assigned a score based on the quality and accurateness of their proofs and calculations. For the 2022 Putnam competition, computer science and mathematics double major Clarence Lam, mathematics major Isaac Mammel and mathematics major Daniel Yuan represented UMD, each ranking in the top 100 out of 3,415 participants.

“It’s a notoriously difficult exam. For context, the median score for the Putnam is usually either zero points or one point out of 120. Each member of this year’s team scored between 50 to 63 points out of 120,” explained Roohollah Ebrahimian, a principal lecturer in UMD’s Department of Mathematics and the university’s Putnam coordinator.

For the Putnam team members, their win came as a pleasant, yet unexpected, surprise.

“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting my results to be as good as they were, especially as this was my first time participating,” said Lam, who placed 87th. “There were so many extremely talented students in the competition, from my teammates to the other participants coming from schools like MIT and Harvard.” 

Mammel, who placed 64th, echoed the sentiment: “I was also a little surprised, but I’m happy to see that I’ve improved since my first attempt at Putnam and I’m proud of UMD for coming so far.”  

Yuan, the UMD team’s third member, ranked 46th in the competition. And although not on the UMD Putnam team, computer science major Philip Guo also placed in the top 200 individual scores. 

Any UMD undergraduate can sign up for the competition, which is held every December. Putnam participants sit for an intensive six-hour written examination consisting of 12 complex math problems. According to Ebrahimian, who has coached UMD participants since 2016, test topics range from abstract algebra to calculus to probability.  

To prepare students for the Putnam Competition and other collegiate math events, Ebrahimian teaches a one-credit fall course, MATH 299B: Putnam Express. In this class, students work through problems that were featured in previous Putnam competitions and share their individual approaches to solving the problems. 

“It’s okay and perfectly normal to be wrong,” Ebrahimian explained. “The point of the class is to prompt students to exercise their logical reasoning skills and help them pull from all their experiences in their other math classes. They just need to know how to show what they’re thinking.” 

Students are encouraged to present their solutions to their classmates and explain their logic—even if the solutions are unconventional, incomplete or even incorrect—to illustrate the need for diverse thought processes when tackling concepts. 

“The prep class really fostered creative thinking and a sense of pride in our abilities, which I think is important for any math student,” Lam said. “I’ve been interested in Putnam since high school and for me, the class reaffirmed that competitive math could be fun. Everyone should give both the class and the competition a try because it really changes the way you look at math and problem-solving.”

Mammel, who took the course in fall 2021, credited the class as one reason why he participated in the Putnam Competition again.

“I learned how to be persistent, which is definitely important in this competition and something I advise for all math competition participants. Your first attempt may not pay off and maybe not even your second or third,” Mammel said. “But if you keep trying, you’ll have a shot at least with one problem or learn more about how to tackle it better.” 

Ebrahimian is already looking forward to the next Putnam Competition and plans to increase outreach to potential participants, starting with high school students looking to enter the world of collegiate math competitions. He hopes that more students, including non-math majors, will sign up to test their skills and compete with other undergraduates who share a genuine love of math. 

“We’ve really had some good turnouts in the past few years and usually rank in the top 10 or 15 participating institutions, but it was really exciting to see such a big jump in 2022,” Ebrahimian said. “The goal is now to maintain our momentum going forward.” 

Written by Georgia Jiang