The ACC Foundation honored ACC math students at the May Board of Trustees meeting.

Austin Community College recently placed first in the southwest region in the annual Student Math League competition, sponsored by the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges.

The team of ACC students finished 16^th nationally out of 191 participating community colleges. The competition consists of two exams, one given during the fall semester and one during the spring semester.

At the May Board of Trustees meeting, the Austin Community College Foundation presented awards to the eight highest scoring ACC students in the spring round.

Mark Lindberg (1^st place-$200)

Lindberg is an Austin native who is majoring in music and plans to attend a four-year university after ACC. This is the fourth consecutive semester that Lindberg has received first place.

Michael Black (2^nd place – $150)

Black is an Early College Start student who is homeschooled. While he is undecided on what college to attend in the future, he would like to major in aerospace engineering, though he also is interested in business and law.

Dean Marino (3^rd place – $100)

Marino studies math and computer science at ACC, where he has a 4.0 GPA. He has been accepted to the University of Texas’ College of Natural Sciences for fall 2012.

Karl Hoffman (4^th place – $100)

Hoffman is a computer science major and plans to transfer to the University of Texas or Texas State University. This is the second consecutive semester that Hoffman has been a top finisher.

Phuoc Do (5^th place – $100)

Do is majoring in Medical Lab Technology at ACC.

Jason Smith (6^th place – $100)

Smith is studying mathematics at ACC.

Kimberly Stefanik (tied for 7^th place – $100)

Stefanik would like to attend the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business to study either marketing or management.

Jonathan Fan (tied for 7^th place – $100)

Fan, born in the United States but raised in Taiwan, studies mathematics at ACC.

ACC students consistently perform well in the Student Math League; in 2010-11, the team tied for first place in the southwest region, which includes Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona.

“While it is exciting for us to win awards, the students and I mostly participate because we love mathematics and we love to tackle challenging problems,” says Tony Vance, math professor. “Nothing is more thrilling than that moment when you realize you have solved a particularly difficult problem.”

The ACC Foundation provides a 2:1 match for prize donations. Since 2002, the ACC Foundation has provided the Math Department with more than $32,000 in matching funds for 180 students.