A mathematics department faculty member tells the story of meeting a recruiter from a local company that has hired quite a few GVSU graduates who majored in mathematics.  The recruiter first thanked the professor for helping develop fantastic people who had proved to be outstanding employees.  The professor then asked, “What makes them so good?”  The recruiter subsequently summarized what so many of our students have become:  “They are creative thinkers and independent problem solvers; excellent communicators, both orally and in writing; and we never have to tell them to work hard.”

Of course, it’s not just this one company that knows GVSU mathematics majors have these traits.  Many different employers near and far have seen firsthand the high quality contributions that our graduates offer.  Recently, several department faculty set out to contact a wide sample of our former students and learn more about their current endeavors.  The result is a collection of nearly 20 alumni profiles that are available from our department web page.

Reading these profiles, you’ll be able to learn which former classmate designs water, wastewater, and storm systems in West Michigan; which serves as a risk consultant with Federated Mutual Insurance Company in South Carolina; who teaches math and science in grades 7-12 at Kiana School in the Northwest Arctic Borough School District in Kiana, Alaska; who collects and analyzes data used by the Department of Defense (DOD) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding unmanned aircraft systems; who’s a technical expert for Steelcase products made at the company’s Athens, Alabama plant; who designs, develops, and tests embedded software for medical instruments; and encounter many more fine alumni exhibiting a range of different careers in varied geographic locations.

In addition, you can read how these different alumni look back on their undergraduate education and which courses and experiences best prepared them for their current work.  Many different people express the deep value found in learning to write proofs.  For example, one alum observes that “Any course where I was required to write proofs [was] very helpful when trying to clearly express technical ideas and plans in my job.”  Another says that MTH 210 “teaches so many problem solving skills that become extremely valuable when teaching,” while still another states that because of that course, “I am better able to communicate complex information in a user friendly way so that management can make appropriate decisions.”

We are grateful that all of these independent thinkers and problem solvers who have strong communication skills and outstanding work ethics have agreed to share these updates of their current work.  If you are interested in sharing your story as part of a potential alumni profile, we’d welcome hearing from you.