Each April at the Mathematics Department student award banquet we recognize exemplary students.   In this article we share the students being honored with scholarships and awards and their achievements.

Scholarships

The generous contributions of alumni and many past and present mathematics faculty has established the Mathematics Endowment Fund to provide funds to support annual Mathematics Department Scholarships for select mathematics majors.

The selection criteria include a personal essay, grade point average, letters of recommendation, and extra-curricular mathematical engagement.  The following outstanding students are receiving this scholarship for the 20256-27 academic year:

Micah Dykhuis

Faith Klynstra

Andrew Kurmas

Sydney Lipton

Amanda Myers

Laura Stehney

Congratulations to each of these deserving mathematics majors!

VanderJagt Mathematics and Athletics Scholarship

Prof. Don VanderJagt served the mathematics department and Grand Valley State University for more than 40 years.  Before his retirement, Don and his wife, Barb, endowed the VanderJagt Scholarship to support students working toward a degree in mathematics.  A list of past recipients is kept on a plaque outside the math department office.

This year the Department is pleased to honor Sean Marquard with the VanderJagt Scholarship.

Other Awards

The Outstanding Sophomore Award recognizes the academic achievements of students at the beginning of their academic careers.  The purpose of the award is to encourage continued success in the study of mathematics.  Students may only win this award by being nominated by one or more faculty.

The 2026 Outstanding Sophomore is Charlotte Goersch.

The GVSU Mathematics Community Service Award is designed to honor a mathematics major at GVSU who exhibits excellence in mathematics and a strong record of community service related to mathematics, mathematics education, or education. The winner of this award receives a certificate and a book and is recognized by having their name engraved on a plaque in the Mathematics Department. The 2026 winner of the Community Service Award is Marshall Nicholson.

Department Senior Awards honor graduating students for their accumulated excellence in the mathematics major and their overall contributions to the department.  These students have made a positive difference in the life of the mathematics department as they have demonstrated exemplary work in their courses and often have shown leadership and participation in extracurricular mathematical activities. The winners of department senior awards for 2025 are:

Troy Conlay

MacKenzie DeGeer

Ashlyn Kluesner

Lindsey Korb

Miyah Lee 

Sydney Lipton

Sean Marquard

Marshall Nicholson

Bridget Rozema

Maisie Smith

Nick Sobas 

Ethan Woudwyk

Each year, every department in the university selects a single graduating student for its Excellence-in-the-Discipline Award.  For 2026, Jordan Edwards is the recipient of this honor, and you can read more about him in this article.

Congratulations to all of these outstanding students.  We wish them the very best in all of their future endeavors.