About the Department

The mathematics and statistics department offers a major and 3 flavors of minors. It also cohosts, with the education department, an MAT program. There are about 20 math majors graduating each year.

The department is known for its congenial forum in Burton Hall where students gather to study, surrounded by faculty offices. We have weekly talks, which are usually Tuesday at noon. These talks are partially sponsored by the Math Union, a group of students interested in mathematics.

Aside from their teaching, mathematics faculty do research and write papers on algebra, combinatorics, dynamical systems, graph theory, logic, mathematical crystallography, mathematical biology, number theory, singularity theory, quantum logic and statistics. Within those fields, the research goes from the very abstract to the quite applied. Faculty also write textbooks, mount exhibits and build sculptures. There are a number of opportunities for students to assist faculty in all their endeavours.

The Guide to Mathematics at Smith, which is updated (and also printed) every year, contains many details on the whys, whats and whens of studying mathematics in general, and at Smith in particular.