The Mathematical Association of America Maryland-District of Columbia-Virginia Section

The fall meeting of the MD/DC/VA Section of the MAA was held on November 1 and 2 at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD.

• Our Friday night banquet address was given by Dr. Martha Siegel, Secretary of the MAA and Professor at Towson University, her talk was entitled Wanna Bet?: Curiosities in Probability.
• On Saturday, Dr. Roger Horn of the University of Utah gave the invited address Five Fundamental Facts in Matrix Analysis. and Dr. Edward Scheinerman of Johns Hopkins University presented When Close Enough is Close Enough.

Invited Addresses

Martha Siegel

Secretary of the MAA, Professor and Chairperson, Mathematics Department, Towson University

Banquet Address: Wanna Bet?: Curiosities in Probability

Abstract: Several years ago, "Ask Marilyn" exposed a simple probability problem to the community at large. Even the mathematicians got it wrong! From early times, gamblers have sought ways of determining odds and settling bets. Where are the pitfalls? This talk will expose some of the assumptions and miscalculations that lead to solutions that may seem intuitively correct, but don't bet on them!

Biographical Sketch: Martha Siegel studied mathematics as an undergraduate at Russell Sage College in New York and attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a special student during her years at Sage. Siegel earned her Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1969. She taught at Goucher College in Baltimore from 1966 to 1971 and since then has been a faculty member at Towson University. Her mathematical interests are in the areas of probability, applied mathematics, and modeling. Siegel, the current MAA Secretary, has been very active with the MAA for years. In addition to serving as Editor of the MAA Mathematics Magazine for five years in the 1990s, she has served on various MAA committees, served on the MAA Consultants list for years, and is experienced as a program reviewer. Siegel is a founding member of the Maryland Mathematics and Science Coalition.

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Roger Horn

Professor, Mathematics Department, University of Utah Past American Mathematical Monthly Editor

Invited Address: Five Fundamental Facts in Matrix Analysis

Abstract/Assignment: Bring to the talk a short list of key facts about matrices that you emphasize when you teach linear algebra. The speaker will do the same, illustrated with examples and applications.

Biographical Sketch: Roger Horn studied mathematics and physics as an undergraduate at Cornell University and earned his Ph.D. in mathematics at Stanford University in 1967 under the direction of Donald Spencer and Charles Loewner. He has been a faculty member at the University of Santa Clara, Johns Hopkins University (where he was chairman of the Department of Mathematical Sciences during 1972-79), the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and the University of Utah. His published papers reflect research in number theory, differential geometry, probability, health policy analysis, statistics, analysis, complex variables, and matrix analysis.

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Edward Scheinerman

Professor and Chair, Mathematical Sciences Department, Johns Hopkins University

Invited Address: When Close Enough is Close Enough

Abstract/Assignment: A former doctoral student, Greg Levin, in his dissertation proved upper and lower bounds for the answer to a combinatorial problem. We were able to calculate that these bounds are within 10^(-2000) of each other, but we were not (at that time) able to show they are equal. Our intuition, of course, was that two numbers that are so close together simply had to be equal. This talk describes a method to make that intuition into fact.

Biographical Sketch: Edward Scheinerman is Professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University. His interest is in discrete mathematics, especially graph theory, partially ordered sets, and random methods, with applications to communications networks and robotics.