George Pólya Award


The George Pólya Award is presented annually by the Mathematical Association of America for articles of expository excellence that have been published in The College Mathematics Journal. The award was established in 1976 and up to two awards of $1,000 each are given in each year. The award is named after Hungarian mathematician George Pólya.

Recipients

Recipients of the George Pólya Award have included:
YearRecipientArticle
2020Adam Glesser, Matt Rathbun, Isabel M. Serrano, Bogdan SuceavăEclectic Illuminism: Applications of Affine Geometry
2020Christopher J. CatoneBringing Calculus into Discrete Math via the Discrete Derivative
2019Stanley R. Huddy and Michael A. JonesThe Calculus Behind Generic Drug Equivalence
2019Peter McGrathNewton’s Shell Theorem via Archimedes’ Hat Box and Single Variable Calculus
2018Ben Blum-Smith and Samuel CoskeyFundamental Theorem on Symmetric Polynomials: History’s First Whiff of Galois Theory
2018Stephen KaczkowskiMathematical Models for Global Mean Sea Level Rise
2017Viktor BlåsjöHow to Find the Logarithm of Any Number Using Nothing But a Piece of String
2017Travis KowalskiThe Sine of a Single Degree
2016Gordon Hamilton, Kiran S. Kedlaya, and Henri PicciottoSquare-Sum Pair Partitions
2016Hassan Boualem and Robert BrouzetTo Be or Not To Be?
2015Michael Brilleslyper and Lisbeth SchaubroeckLocating Unimodular Roots
2015David JoynerThe Man Who Found God's Number
2014Adam E. ParkerWho Solved the Bernoulli Differential Equation and How Did They Do It?
2014Christiane RousseauHow Inge Lehmann Discovered the Inner Core of the Earth
2013Jacob SiehlerThe Finite Lamplighter Groups: A Guided Tour
2013David Applegate, Marc LeBrun, and Neil J. A. SloaneCarryless Arithmetic Mod 10
2012Leslie A. Cheteyan, Stewart Hengveld, and Michael A. JonesChutes and Ladders for the Impatient
2012T. S. MichaelGuards, Galleries, Fortresses, and the Octoplex
2011Jonathan K. Hodge, Emily Marshall, and Geoff PattersonGerrymandering and Convexity
2011John MartinThe Helen of Geometry
2010Andrew BarkerEvolutionary Stability in the Traveler's Dilemma
2010Curtis Feist and Ramin NaimiTopology Explains Why Automobile Sunshades Fold Oddly
2009Lawrence BrentonRemainder Wheels and Group Theory
2009Greg N. FredericksonDesigning a Table Both Swinging and Stable
2008Roland Minton and Timothy J. PenningsDo Dogs Know Bifurcations?
2008Andrew J. SimosonPursuit Curves for the Man in the Moone
2007Richard Jerrard, Joel Schneider, Ralph Smallberg, and John WetzelStraw in a Box
2007Allen SchwenkDistortion of Average Class Size: The Lake Wobegon Effect
2006Ezra BrownPhoebe Floats!
2006James SandefurA Geometric Series from Tennis
2005Brian Hopkins and Robin J. WilsonThe Truth About Königsberg
2005Stephen M. WalkMind Your ∃s and ∀s
2004Greg N. FredericksonA New Wrinkle on an Old Folding Problem
2003David L. FinnCan a Bicycle Create a Unicycle Track?
2003Dan KalmanAn Underdetermined Linear System for GPS
2002Tim FreemanConformality, the Exponential Function, and World Map Projections
2001Ezra BrownThree Fermat Trails to Elliptic Curves
2001Chip Ross and Jody SorensenWill the Real Bifurcation Diagram Please Stand up!
2000Martin GardnerThe Asymmetric Propeller
2000Ezra BrownSquare Roots From 1; 24, 51, 10 to Dan Shanks
1999David Bleecker and Larry WallenThe World’s Biggest Taco
1999Aaron Klebanoff and John RickertStudying the Cantor Dust at the Edge of Feigenbaum Diagrams
1998Aimee Johnson and Kathleen MaddenPutting the Pieces Together: Understanding Robinson’s Nonperiodic Tilings
1998Kevin KirbyOf Memories, Neurons, and Rank-One Corrections
1997Leon HarkleroadHow Mathematicians Know What Computers Can’t Do
1997Chris Christensen and Shreeram S. AbhyankarNewton’s Method for Resolving Affected Equations
1996James G. SimmondsA New Look at an Old Function, eiθ
1996John EwingCan We See the Mandelbrot Set?
1995Paulo RibenboimPrime Number Records
1995Anthony P. FerzolaEuler and Differentials
1994Dan KalmanSix Ways to Sum a Series
1994Charles GroetschInverse Problems and Torricelli’s Law
1993Dana N. MackenzieTriquetras and Porisms
1993Les Lange and James W. MillerA Random Ladder Game: Permutations, Eigenvalues, and Convergence of Markov Chains
1992Howard EvesTwo Surprising Theorems on Cavalieri Congruence
1992William DunhamEuler and the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra
1991Mark F. SchillingThe Longest Run of Heads
1991William B. Gearhart and Harris S. ShultzThe Function sin/x
1990Israel KleinerEvolution of the Function Concept: A Brief Survey
1990D. NeidingerAutomatic Differentiation & APL
1989Edward RozemaWhy Should We Pivot in Gaussian Elimination?
1989Beverly L. Brechner and John C. MayerAntoine’s Necklace or How to Keep a Necklace from Falling Apart
1988V. Frederick RickeyIsaac Newton: Man, Myth, and Mathematics
1988Dennis Luciano and Gordon PrichettCryptology: From Caesar Ciphers to Public-Key Cryptosystems
1987Constance ReidThe Autobiography of Julia Robinson
1987Irl BivensWhat a Tangent Line Is When It Isn’t a Limit
1986Philip J. DavisWhat Do I Know? A Study of Mathematical Self-Awareness
1985Anthony BarcellosThe Fractal Geometry of Mandelbrot
1985Kay DundasTo Build a Better Box
1984Ruma Falk and Maya Bar-HillelProbabilistic Dependence between Events
1984Richard J. TrudeauHow Big is a Point?
1983Warren Page and Vedula N. MurtyNearness Relations among Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion: Part 1
1983Douglas R. HofstadterAnalogies and Metaphors to Explain Gödel’s Theorem
1983Paul R. HalmosThe Thrills of Abstraction
1982Peter RenzMathematical Proof: What It Is and What It Ought to Be
1982John MitchemOn the History and Solution of the Four-Color Map Problem
1981Ennis D. McCune, Robert G. Dean and William D. ClarkCalculators to Motivate Infinite Composition of Functions
1981Don ChakerianCircles and Spheres
1980Hugh Ouellette and Gordon BennettThe Discovery of a Generalization: An Example in Problem Solving
1980Robert NelsonPictures, Probability and Paradox
1979Richard PlaggeFractions without Quotients: Arithmetic of Repeating Decimals
1979Richard L. FrancisA Note on Angle Construction
1978Frieda ZamesSurface Area and the Cylinder Area Paradox
1978Allen H. Holmes, Walter J. Sanders and John W. LeDucStatistical Inference for the General Education Student-It Can Be Done
1977Julian WeissglassSmall Groups: An Alternative to the Lecture Method
1977Anneli LaxLinear Algebra, a Potent Tool