Putnam Competition
Professor Elton Hsu presents Ruohong Zhang (above) and Timothy Zhou (below) with awards for High Achievement on the William Lowell Putnam Examination at the 2018 Undergraduate Prize Lecture.
About the Putnam Competition
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is perhaps the most prestigious university-level mathematics competition in the world. The Putnam Competition is an annual examination consisting of twelve problems, each worth ten points. Testing originality as well as technical competence, the examination's median score is often zero points out of 120.
The Northwestern Putnam Team
Prior to 2019, using the results of a selection test the Putnam Supervisor used to select three students to form the official Northwestern Putnam Team. Students not selected for the official team could still participate in the competition as individual contestants.
Starting in 2019 the is no need for preselection of team members. Institutions will be ranked by the sum of the scores of their top three participants. The top three participants will be referred as the team for that institution, but the team will not bet determined until grading is complete.
2019 Putnam Competition Results
Thirteen Northwestern students participated in the Eightieth Putnam Competition on Saturday, December 7, 2019. Northwestern's team scored 83, ranking 39 out of 488 institutiones. Students Harry Nguyen, ranking 212, Nikhil Kalghatgi ranking 344.5, and Akhil Kalghatgi ranking 478.5 out of 4299 participants were the top three participants for Northwestern University. Find here the full list of winners.
2020 PUTNAM COMPETITION
Due to the coronavirus crisis, most students in the US and Canada are unable to return to campuses this fall. Therefore, the 81st Putnam Competition, originally scheduled for Fall 2020, will be postponed until February 20, 2021. If most students can return to campuses in the spring, the competition on that date can go forward in much the same form as in previous years. On the other hand, if most students are unable to return to campuses in the spring, the competition on that date will proceed in an unofficial mode, with no proctors, no prizes, no awards, but with solution papers submitted for grading by participants themselves and scores reported back privately to the individual participants.
Please see the Putnam page for more details.
Putnam Competition Training
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Resources and Further information
- Putnam Training and Resources
- William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition - MAA site
- William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition - SCU site
Contact the Putnam Supervisor for further information.
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