Wenyu Cao (Phillips Academy, Andover, MA). First-place winner of the 2009 USAMO, Cao was awarded the prestigious Samuel L. Greitzer/Murray S. Klamkin Award for Mathematical Excellence and a $20,000 scholarship from the Akamai Foundation. He went on to win a silver medal at the 2009 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).
He will be attending Princeton University in the fall. He would like to thank his parents and grandfather for inspiring him to always reach for the stars.
Zijing (Michael) Gao (Cary Academy, Cary, NC). Member of the winning team at the 2011 Romanian Masters in Mathematics and Science.
He was a winner of the 2010 USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad and is a finalist for the 2011 USA Computing Olympiad. He would like to thank Xiaohang Zhu, instructors at the MAA Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program, Idea Math, and Art of Problem Solving for training him in math.
Benjamin Gunby (Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC). A gold medal-winner at the 2010 IMO, Gunby was also the winner of the 2010 Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament and the 2010 American Regions Mathematics League. He was honored alongside the nation's best and the brightest at the 2010 White House Science Fair. He would like to thank his supportive family and his math teacher, Andy Lipps, who has been incredible for supporting mathematics at Georgetown Day School. He will be attending MIT in the fall.
Xiaoyu He (Acton-Boxborough Regional HS, Acton, MA). One of the top 12 winners of the 2010 USAMO, He went on to win a gold medal at the 2010 IMO.
He thanks his parents for introducing him to mathematics and for their continuing belief in him.
Ravi Jagadeesan (Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH). Currently a first-year student at Phillips, Jagadeesan has taken part in the US Physics Olympiad and the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad. For teaching him mathematics throughout his childhood, he would like to thank his grandparents, Krishna and Sarada Jagadeesan. He would also like to thank his parents for their continuing support, as well as his elementary school math teacher, Kristine Laska, for her encouragement and coaching.
Spencer Kwon (Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH). Currently a junior at Phillips Exeter, Kwon would like thank his friend and mentor Dr. Feng for his encouragement and patience and his parents and sister for their unwavering support
Mitchell Lee (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, VA). One of the top 12 winners of the 2010 USAMO, Lee was a member of the winning team at the 2011 Romanian Master of Mathematics and Science
and a finalist in the 2011 USA Computing Olympiad. He is currently taking time off from formal academic studies to pursue independent study and research. He would like to thank his family for their unwavering support.
Ray Li (Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH).
Currently a sophomore at Phillips, Li was a finalist in the 2011 USA Computing Olympiad and qualified for the second round of 2011 North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad. In 2009, he was a National MathCounts quarterfinalist. He would like to thank his MathCounts coach, Tom Perdziola, for fostering his interest in math, and his parents for always supporting him in math and science competitions.
Evan O'Dorney (Berkeley Math Circle, Danville, CA). O'Dorney is a constant feature in MAA News, most recently for winning the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search. A gold medal-winner at the 2010 IMO, O'Dorney also scored the second best score. Other notable accomplishments include Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad grand prize (2007, 2009, 2010); USA Mathematical Olympiad winner (2008); International Mathematical Olympiad silver medalist (2008, 2009); Who Wants to Be a Mathematician national champion (2010); and Intel International Science and Engineering Fair finalist (2010). He also won the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee. He thanks Professor Zvezda Stankova, director of the Berkeley Math Circle; Professors Ravi Vakil and Brian Conrad of Stanford University; and Lek-Heng Lim, the UC Berkeley professor (now at the University of Chicago) who first inspired him to do research. He would also like to thank his mother, who has homeschooled him his entire life. O’Dorney will attend Harvard University in the fall.
Mark Sellke (William Henry Harrison, West Lafayette, IN). Winner of the 2010 MathCounts National Competition, Selke is a first-year student at William Henry Harrison. He would like to thank Indiana MathCounts coaches Robert Fischer and Trent Tormoehlon for inspiring him to excel in middle school, Drs. Henijin Chi and Ron Ji for instructing him in Olympiad-level mathematics, and math teacher Doug Klumpe for providing myriad mathematical opportunities.
David Yang (Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH). A sophomore at Phillips Exeter, he was one of the top 12 winners at the 2009 USAMO and a National MathCounts Written Competition first place and individual second place winner also in 2009. He thanks Dr. Li for introducing him to mathematics competition, and Drs. Ali Gurel and Zuming Feng for their continuing help and support.
Shijie (Joy) Zheng (Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH). In addition to receiving honorable mention at the 2010 USAMO, ZZheng also received a gold medal at the 2010 China Girls Math Olympiad, and an honorable mention at the 2011 Romanian Master of Mathematics and Science. She is also the founder of the Seattle Infinity Math Circle and one of the tournament directors of the 2011 Exeter Math Club Competition. Zheng will be attending Harvard in the fall. She would like to thank her parents for encouraging her to do math and for their continued support.
Watch a slideshow of past accomplishments of some of the winners of the 2011 USAMO.
An awards ceremony for the 12 USAMO winners will be held in Washington, D.C., at the Carnegie Institution for Science on Monday, June 6, 2011. Following the awards ceremony, the winners will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, to participate in the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP) for in-depth training in mathematical problem solving.
Ten of the USAMO winners, along with 15 other students who ranked among the top USAMO scorers, will take the team selection test, a three-day marathon during which the students try to solve three problems in four and a half hours each day. The top six students will become members of the U.S. team at the 2011 International Mathematical Olympiad, which will be held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 16-24.
About USAMO
The USAMO is the pinnacle event in the sequence of increasingly challenging mathematical contests administered by the MAA's American Mathematics Competitions program. It serves to indicate the talent of those who may become leaders in the mathematical sciences of the next generation. More than 220,000 worldwide took the first contest (AMC 10 and/or AMC 12). More than 10,000 were invited to compete in the second contest, the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), and just 329 of these participants made it to the highly selective and prestigious USAMO.
In 2010, the AMC announced a new contest for young students to bridge the computational solution process of AIME and the proof orientation of the USAMO. This year, 225 participated in the USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad. The results are listed here (pdf).
2011 Problems
Test yourself with the problems from this year's USAMO and USAJMO competitions:
MAA MinuteMath is a blog that posts daily questions from the AMC-8, AMC-10, and AMC-12 contests. All questions are accompanied by hints and solutions.
About AMC
The mission of the MAA's American Mathematics Competitions is to increase interest in mathematics and to develop problem solving through a fun competition. Teachers and schools benefit from the chance to challenge students with interesting mathematical questions that are aligned with curriculum standards at all levels of difficulty. In addition, students gain the opportunity to learn and achieve through competition with students in their school and around the world.