Seven students from Youngstown State University participated in the 2005 Putnam Mathematical Competition. The students were David Gohlke, J. T. Hird, David Martin, Matt Ward, Brian Hamilton, Nikki Casacchia, and Becky Grove. There were 3545 participants from 500 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
The Putnam exam consists of twelve questions each worth 10 points a piece so that scores range from 0 to 120. This year, about 1660 participants received 0 points, which is about 47% of the total number of participants taking the test. This shows how challenging the exam questions are.
David Gohlke, J. T. Hird and David Martin finished ranked in the top 30% of all participants taking the exam. Brian Hamilton finished ranked in the top 38%.
The YSU team finished in the top 16% of all teams in the competition. This is exceptional work on the part of our students in this prestigious competition. This is the second highest team ranking we have had since I have been here at YSU. Congratulations are in order to all participants on a job very well done. Also special thanks to Jacek Fabrykowski and Doug Faires for helping prepare the team.
Also, Aaron Pollack, son of Dave Pollack, took the exam representing Duke University. He finished in the top 3% of all participants taking the exam as a freshman.