{"id":298,"date":"2017-10-17T16:34:20","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T16:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-mscs\/mathandsocietyseries\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T19:45:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T19:45:41","slug":"mathandsocietyseries","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/speakerseries\/mathandsocietyseries\/","title":{"rendered":"MSCS and Society Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Macalester\u2019s Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science is host to the MSCS and Society Speaker Series, the purpose of which is to enhance classroom learning in MSCS through lectures by people prominent in these fields. These talks are free and open to the public. Neighbors of the college, students at local colleges, and high school students are especially encouraged to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The series was established in January 2001 and is made possible through the generous financial support of Macalester alumnus Kurt Winkelmann \u201978.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MSCS and Society Lecture, 2026-27<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Stan Wagon<\/a>, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Macalester College
Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 4:40 p.m.- 5:40 p.m.
John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Campus Center<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Title<\/strong>
The connection between kidney transplants and the assignment of Macalester students to classes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advertisement<\/a><\/strong>
Using a modern approach to assigning students to classes maximizes the number of students getting into their preferred classes. Macalester uses a method that leads to about 90% of first-year students getting into one of their top two choices of a first-year course.

The algorithm, called integer linear programming, is the same as one used to maximize the number of kidney transplants. The method is one of the most widely used assignment algorithms and plays a role in much modern scheduling, planning, and general science.

For example, it is used in DNA sequencing, the design of proteins, gerrymandering analysis, network routing (the traveling salesman problem), airline scheduling, the scheduling of professional sports leagues, and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Previous speakers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Year<\/strong><\/td>Speaker<\/strong><\/td>Affiliation<\/strong><\/td>Title<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2025-26<\/td>Ranthony Clark<\/a><\/td>Duke University<\/td>A Case For Quantitative Justice<\/td><\/tr>
2024-25<\/td>Rebecca Hubbard<\/a><\/td>Brown University<\/td>Not so fast: Accelerating medical research with big data while safeguarding vulnerable
populations and research rigor<\/td><\/tr>
2023-24<\/td>Daniel Keefe<\/a><\/td> University of Minnesota<\/td>Designing Mixed-Reality and Tangible Data Experiences with Artists and Indigenous Communities<\/td><\/tr>
2022-23<\/td>Federico Ardila-Mantilla<\/a><\/td>San Francisco State University<\/td>\n

Geometry, Robots, and Society<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

2021-22<\/td>Michael Osterholm<\/a><\/td>University of Minnesota<\/td>\n

A Conversation on Data and the Pandemic<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

2019-20<\/td>Moon Duchin<\/a>
Karen Saxe<\/a><\/td>		Tufts University
American Mathematical Society<\/td>		\n

Mathematical Interventions in Fair Voting<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

2018-19<\/td>Brent Hecht<\/a><\/td>Northwestern University<\/td>\n

The Origins, Present, and Future of Algorithmic Bias<\/p>\n<\/td><\/tr>

2017-18<\/td>Tim Chartier<\/a><\/td>Davidson College<\/td>Putting a Spring in Yoda’s Step<\/td><\/tr>
2016-17<\/td>Kristin Lauter<\/a><\/td>Microsoft Research<\/td>How to Keep Your Genome Secret<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2015-16<\/td>George Hart<\/a><\/td>Stony Brook University<\/td>From Mathematics to Sculpture<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2014-15<\/td>Peko Hosoi<\/a><\/td>MIT<\/td>From Razor Clams to Robots: The Mathematics Behind Biologically Inspired Design<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2013-14<\/td>Louis J Gross<\/a><\/td>University of Tennessee<\/td>“Best” in a Biological Context: Optimization Across the Biological Hierarchy<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2012-13<\/td>Bill Cook<\/a><\/td>Georgia Tech<\/td>The Traveling Salesman Problem: A Blueprint for Optimization<\/td><\/tr>
2011-12<\/td>David Kung<\/a><\/td>St. Mary’s College of Maryland<\/td>How Math Made Modern Music Mad Irrational<\/td><\/tr>
2010-11<\/td>Edward Belbruno<\/a><\/td>NASA Research Associate &
Professor at Princeton University<\/td>		Low Energy Pathways in Space, Chaos, and Origin of the Moon<\/td><\/tr>
2009-10<\/td>Jeff Weeks<\/a><\/td>Geometry Games<\/td>The Shape of Space<\/td><\/tr>
2008-09<\/td>Ann Watkins<\/a><\/td>California State University,
Northridge<\/td>		Fallacies in Elementary Statistics<\/td><\/tr>
2007-08<\/td>Bart de Smit<\/a><\/td>Leiden University
The Netherlands<\/td>		M.C. Escher and the Droste Effect<\/td><\/tr>
2006-07<\/td>Peter Hamburger<\/td>Western Kentucky University<\/td>The Art of Venn Diagrams<\/cite><\/td><\/tr>
2005-06<\/td>Doris Schattschneider<\/a><\/td>Moravian College<\/td> <\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2004-05<\/td>Helmer Aslaksen<\/td>National University of Singapore<\/td>The Mathematics of the Chinese, Indian, Islamic and Gregorian Calendars<\/td><\/tr>
2003-04<\/td>Herb Wilf<\/a><\/td>University of Pennsylvania<\/td> <\/cite><\/td><\/tr>
2002-03<\/td>Gil Strang<\/a><\/td>MIT<\/td><\/cite>
<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2001-02<\/td>Tom Banchoff<\/a><\/td>Brown University<\/td> <\/cite><\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2000-01<\/td>George Andrews<\/a><\/td>Penn State<\/td> <\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macalester\u2019s Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science is host to the MSCS and Society Speaker Series, the purpose of which is to enhance classroom learning in MSCS through lectures by people prominent in these fields. These talks are free and open to the public. Neighbors of the college, students at local colleges, and high […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":271,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-298","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2603,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/298\/revisions\/2603"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}