Maryville College

Mathematics & Computer Science at Maryville College

What do you do with a major in mathematics, computer science or statistics? Many students mistakenly believe that if you major in one of these areas (also known as the mathematical sciences) your career choices are limited to being a teacher, an engineer or a computer programmer. Teaching, engineering and computer programming are exciting career paths,  but majors in the mathematical sciences will find themselves in high demand for any type of career that requires quantitative ability, logical reasoning and problem-solving skills.  

Why choose to major in the mathematical sciences at Maryville College?  We are a small, personal department that prides itself on supporting our students through quality advising and one-on-one interaction, both in and out of the classroom. You will get to know your professors well, enjoy small classes, and have the opportunity to do independent research with a faculty advisor.  You can join the programming team or the Math and Computer Science club for fun and unique extracurricular activities. 

Explore our website to learn more about the programs, faculty and students that are the Division of Mathematics and Computer Science at Maryville College. Planning a campus visit?  We welcome you to meet with a faculty member and sit in on any of our classes. We look forward to getting to know you, and encourage you to contact the division chair or any of our faculty with questions.  

Brandon Aaby

MC senior Brandon Aaby stands next to the Cray X1E Phoenix Supercomputer at the National Center for Computational Sciences at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Read about Brandon's internship at ORNL

Class Favorites

Java Games Programming (CSC349) "is probably the class I have enjoyed the most," said David Baumgardner '07. "It really challenged me, but the reward for completing the homework was just awesome! Your homework includes having to play a computer game...granted, you have to write it first!"

Introductory Statistics (STA120) Sophomore Andrew Alfano, a biology for teacher licensure major and history minor, appreciated this math course from the core curriculum. “I liked Stats 120 because it is math that matters to me as a non-math major. It taught me how to tell whether or not information is unique or important---a lesson that applies to all areas of learning.”

History of Math (MTH349) Stacy Justus ‘07 and Len Turner ‘07 both enjoyed History of Math, taught by Dr. John Nichols, Professor of Mathematics and Division Chair for Math & Computer Science. “I found the material interesting and useful when trying to explain things to younger students,” said Justus. “For me,” noted Turner, “it has been my favorite math course so far, because it was interesting to see the link between mathematics and philosophy.”

Mathematics & Computer Science at MC

News

  • MC’s computer programming team competes in IBM’s “Battle of the Brains”
  • Summer Institute courses announced
  • Einstein "revealed" in Dec. 3 presentation by MC professor
  • November marks start-up of computer programming competitions
  • MC welcomes new faculty
  • Brandon Aaby '08 and his mentor at ORNL, Dr. Kalyan Perumalla, won "Best Paper Award" for their paper describing Brandon's work during his summer internship at ORNL. The paper, entitled "Data Parallel Execution Challenges and Runtime Performance of Agent Simulations on GPUs" was presented at The Society for Modeling and Simulation International Multiconference, April 14-17, 2008, in Ottawa, Canada.
  • Rachel Morris ’08 participated in the Higher Education Research Experience (HERE) summer internship program at ORNL in Oak Ridge, TN, where she designed a computer program to help predict how fast an infinitesimal fragment from a pressure cell explosion would be traveling in order to determine the depth penetration of the fragment into a safety barrier.
  • Lauren Sipe ‘08 participated in the Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at Brigham Young University where she conducted research in finding shortest path networks on surfaces.
  • Whitney Downing '09 was a part of the Research Alliance in Math and Science group for the summer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She worked on web design and usability, and studied internal and external communication at the facility.
  • Benjamin Peters ’09 participated in a Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he worked in the nuclear science and technology division on protected asset management systems.
  • Karen Quammen '09 worked with the Safety & Mission Assurance Directorate at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL in the Information Management Division where she created an intranet support request application.
  • Rachel Morris ’08 participated in a summer internship with Oak Ridge National Labs using mathematical modeling to optimize cryogenic equipment design.
  • Travis Redman ’07 participated in the Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics program at NC State University.
  • Beth Fowler ’07 attended the Summer Undergraduate Mathematical Science Research Institute at Miami University (OH) where she participated in a research project on elliptic curves.
  • The Computer Programming team took second place in the third annual Mercer University Programming contest.
  • Recent graduates credit dual-degree program in engineering for professional success
  • Tomas Mann ’07 was one of 10 recipients of a Lilly grant summer internship

Quick Fact

The Maryville College computer programming team (2005-06 team shown above) was established in 2003. Since that time, the team has competed in at least three programming contests per year, bringing home a number of top-ten awards, including one 1st place and one 2nd place award. Programming team members have the option of earning academic credit for this fun and challenging activity.