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DSU Hosts Mathematicians and Magicians

The Dakota State University College of Arts and Sciences is hosting the spring meeting of the Nebraska/South East South Dakota section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) March 30 and 31 on the DSU campus.  The Mathematical Association of America is a professional society that focuses on mathematics at the undergraduate college level.

 The meeting will include speakers and presentations from members of the MAA. The first speaker will be Chris Ahrendt, a 2005 alumnus of DSU and now a graduate student at University of Nebraska, Lincoln.  Other presenters are from the University of South Dakota, University of Minnesota, and Wayne State among others.

 Friday evening at 8:00pm, mathematician and magician Dr. Arthur Benjamin will present Mathemagics.  He will demonstrate various mathematical techniques including how to figure out the day of the week for any date in history, how to mentally add and multiply figures faster than a calculator and how to improve the memory for numbers.  Benjamin has presented his mixture of math and magic to audiences throughout the world and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including The Today Show, CNN, and National Public Radio. He has been featured in Scientific American, Omni, Discover, People, Esquire, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Reader's Digest. In 2005, Reader's Digest called him "America's Best Math Whiz."

 The sessions are open to the public.  Friday’s presentations begin at 1:00pm and will be in the Mundt Foundation. Saturday’s presentations start at 8:00pm and will be in the Technology Classroom Building.  For more information contact Rich Avery rich.avery@dsu.edu or the College of Arts and Science at 605-256-5194.