Melanie Wood Receives 2003 AMS-MAA-SIAM Morgan Prize

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Mike Breen or Annette Emerson, AMS Public Awareness Officers
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January 8, 2004

PROVIDENCE, RI---Melanie Wood, a graduate of Duke University who will enter the PhD program in mathematics at Princeton University, is receiving the 2003 AMS-MAA-SIAM Morgan Prize. Each year the prize is presented by American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The Morgan Prize recognizes outstanding research in mathematics by an undergraduate student. The prize will be awarded today at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Phoenix, Arizona.

Wood is honored for her research on two different topics: Belyi-extending maps and P -orderings. Her work on the first topic, which she has submitted for publication in a mathematics journal, has attracted the attention and admiration of the specialists working in this field. Her paper on the second topic recently appeared in the Journal of Number Theory. The prize citation states: "Melanie Wood's research has been described in glowing terms by her mentors and by other experts in her field. The work is deep and original. The [prize selection] committee commends her for the mature mathematical perspective in her writings."

Further information about AMS prizes may be found at http://www.ams.org/prizes-awards.

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