Mar 24, 2009 - Claremont, Calif. - The results are in: Harvey Mudd College (HMC) has excelled once again at the William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition, a difficult six-hour test requiring a unique blend of cleverness and problem-solving skills.

Forty-five HMC students competed in the December, 2008, competition, which hosted more than 3,600 competitors from across the nation.

Ted Spaide '09, Palmer Mebane '12 and Jacob Scott '11 represented HMC in the team category and placed 11th out of 545 colleges and universities.

In the individual category, nine HMC students placed in the Top 500 (a great accomplishment given the college's small size). Only eight other schools could claim more students in the Top 500.

Special honors go to the following participants, who will receive the RIF prize, which honors the top Mudd finishers in the Putnam each year:

In addition, Steven Ehrlich '09, Jennifer Iglesias '12, Daniel Moore '10, Aaron Pribadi '12, Jacob Scott '11 and Ethan Sokol '10 all made the Top 500 List.

Posted scores for participants can be found on the Department of Mathematics bulletin board, and data on HMC’s past performance is available at the math department’s website.

We are proud of all 45 students who sacrificed their time, talent and energies to represent HMC in this year's Putnam competition. These students who enjoy problem solving represent a cross-section of majors at the college. Please join us in congratulating all those who participated!

— Nick Pippenger and Francis Su, Putnam seminar coaches