COSAM News Articles 2023 April Hear from author and mathematician Francis Su on Friday, April 21

Hear from author and mathematician Francis Su on Friday, April 21

Published: 04/17/2023

Francis Su, the Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, will discuss his new book, Mathematics for Human Flourishing, on Friday, April 21 from 4 -5 p.m. in the Sciences Center Auditorium.

"Maybe the way for you to see yourself in mathematics is not for me to convince you that math is great or that math does lots of wonderful things, but for me to show you that math is intimately tied to being human," said Su, who won the Euler Book Prize in 2021.

Su won the Halmos-Ford writing award in 2018 and was also president of the American Mathematical Association of America in 2013. He graduated with his doctorate degree from Harvard University in 1995.

“Math is more than just a way to describe the world, and it is more than just a set of skills, like doing arithmetic or factoring a quadratic. Math is a deeply human enterprise that fulfills basic human longings, and when properly engaged, it builds virtues like persistence, creativity, and a competence to solve problems you've never seen before. Reframing math in this way---around virtues---offers a way for people to see math as an intrinsic part of life, and to teach it in a more inclusive way. An incarcerated man---now my friend---has helped me see this more clearly than ever before,” Su explained.

His work has been featured in Quanta Magazine, Wired, and The New York Times.

This event is jointly sponsored by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Department of Curriculum and Teaching.

For more information, contact Melinda Lanius at melinda.lanius@auburn.edu.