Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival: Difference between revisions

In the 1970s, [[Saint Mary's College of California]] produced a mathematics contest that was popular with secondary schools throughout the [[San Francisco Bay Area]].<ref name=marycontest>[https://www.amazon.com/College-Mathematics-Contest-Problems-Junior/dp/B01LBHKVLS Saint Mary's College Mathematics Contest Problems For Junior and Senior High School]</ref> In 2005, Nancy Blachman attended an education forum sponsored by the [[Mathematical Sciences Research Institute]] (MSRI) and remembered how the Saint Mary's contest had inspired her as a student.<ref name=SMMC>[http://www.gathering4gardner.org/g4g12gift/Blachman_Nancy-Saint_Marys_Math.pdf Saint Mary’s Math Contest: High School Division] : by Nancy Blachman & Nick Baxter</ref> Unfortunately, the contest no longer existed. Seeking to possibly resurrect the contest, Blachman and MSRI development director Jim Sotiros reached out to colleagues in the educational community. One response was from local high school math teacher Joshua Zucker, who also remembered the contest and even had saved a book of problems from it.<ref name=MSRI/> Sotiros suggested that Blachman and her husband David desJardins fund MSRI in order to hire Zucker to recreate a program in the style of the Saint Mary’s Math Contest. Blachman and Zucker became co-founders and organized their first event in 2007.<ref>[http://mathforum.org/t2t/bios/zucker.html Joshua Zucker] Math Forum</ref><ref name=first/> They called it a festival rather than a contest because they wanted to emphasize collaboration, creativity and fun rather than competition.<ref name=MSRI/> They named the festival after [[Julia Robinson]], a mathematician renowned for her contributions to [[decision problems]].   In fact, her work on  [[Hilbert's 10th problem]]  played a crucial role in its ultimate resolution.<ref name="Julia">

[[Category: 2007 establishments in California]]