Reaves Award

"My relationship with mathematics is long and nonlinear. Growing up I struggled with mathematics as I was forced to memorize multiplication tables in elementary school, only to then regurgitate them on a test. In my early life, I disliked mathematics, but had a love for the natural world around me and the processes that drive nature. Throughout elementary school I was an avid reader of astronomy books, seeking material that was far above my level in an attempt to comprehend concepts in astronomy. I still remember learning about black holes and being amazed at the process that a dying star must go through to become one. Despite my struggles with lower-level mathematics, my love for science and desire to ask questions pushed me forward.

"As I continued to press through primary and secondary school, my mathematical acuity developed as I studied calculus and analysis on my own. I finally decided to attend the University of Oklahoma as a mathematics major after a visit to the math department led to a two-hour long conversation about the Poincare conjecture and algebraic topology with the then chair of the math department Dr. Noel Brady. As I progressed through my degree, my love for mathematics only expanded as my desire to learn expanded with it. My experience freshman year with research into infinite processes, and my independent study class in optimal control theory directed my passion to pursue research in algorithmic optimization around random variables. I am thankful that Dr. Milos Savic and Dr. Pengfei Zhang both took time out of their schedules to help me learn about topics outside the scope of the undergraduate curriculum. I one day hope to apply all I have learned at Oklahoma to make the world better, safer, and more efficient.

"I am truly grateful for the many people who have mentored me and helped me along this journey. Pursuing a degree in mathematics has been an amazing voyage of discovery, and despite the obvious difficulty of the major, the passion that I had in primary school never died. As I reflect on my time at OU, I look back on all I have learned, and the bright road ahead. I truly feel that OU has shaped me into a better individual, and I am very grateful for all those who have helped me get here."

Sarah decided to study mathematics after taking linear algebra, and since then she has really enjoyed learning about its relevance in statistics. After graduation Sarah will pursue a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she plans to incorporate this knowledge into natural products drug discovery research.

She is excited to dive into the world of cheminformatics and try to use mathematics to "engineer luck" in discovering new molecules from a diverse set of natural sources. Lately she finds herself becoming increasingly hopeful about emerging mathematically-minded approaches to finding novel antibiotics hopes to contribute to tackling this extremely important challenge, for the future of human health.

No biographical information provided.

No biographical information provided.