Friends of the Department Welcome to the Friends of the Department page: This page is devoted to information for alumni and friends of the department. We will add to it regularly. Do you have any suggestions of things for this site? Would you like us to post some challenging math problems for you to work on? Please let us know of any suggestions or information you would like to see appear on this page. Thanks to all of our friends who have supported the success of the department through their donations. We use unrestricted donations to the Department of Mathematics in many ways to support and enhance our programs, including such things as Student Relations • We hold three social events a year to give students the opportunity to engage faculty members in a social setting. • We maintain a room in the department complex where students can work and use three networked computers. • We host a lunch for families of all graduating students after the commencement program. • We occasionally provide refreshments at meetings of students for presentations such as internships and speakers on instructional topics of interest to undergraduates. Internet Math Challenge • This program is for K-12 students and is operated by Professor Mark Nielsen through his web site at http://www.uidaho.edu/imc. The cost of undergraduate students to assist him and of most prizes for the students is paid from donated funds. If you have not done so, I encourage you to visit the IMC site. Colloquium Series • This series of speakers of interest to students and faculty is supported mostly from budgeted department funds, but occasionally requires the use of some donated money. Special Scholarships and Awards We introduced an "outstanding graduate award" this year. We place the recipient's name on a permanent plaque near the department office and give the student a monetary award. We occasionally provide travel awards for students to meetings of professional societies. And, of course, there are always many good mathematics majors who need scholarships to pay the rapidly escalating costs of college.