Skip to Content
College of Science and Engineering
Mathworks

Why Is Mathworks Newsworthy?

Mathworks at Texas State University is a center of excellence and innovation in mathematics - created to research and develop model programs and self-sustaining learning communities that engage K-12 students in doing mathematics at a high level. 

Our goal is to prepare students, undergraduate pre-service teachers, and in-service teachers from all backgrounds for success in learning, teaching and doing mathematics.

Closing the Gap

  • Mathworks has a remarkable track record of success over the past 25 years in working with young students and teachers to develop their mathematical abilities.  In 2001, Mathworks was awarded the Texas Higher Education Star Award for Closing the Gaps by Governor Rick Perry.  

Program Awards and Recognition

  • Mathworks received the Siemens Foundation Founder's Award in 2007 in recognition of efforts to promote math and science research by young students.
  • Mathworks has been recognized 13 times by the American Math Society Epsilon Fund as one of the top summer mathematics programs in the nation.
  • Over the past 26 years, Mathworks has received more than $10.7M in grants and donations.

Student Performance

  • In 2008, the Mathworks team from the Junior Summer Math Camp tied for the overall top prize in the Primary Math World Contest in Hong Kong, where 44 teams completed.  Three team members also received highest honors with perfect papers.  Since 2002, the Mathworks entry also has been the top non-Asian team almost every year, thereby winning the "Po Leung Kuk Cup" nine times.  In 2006, the team had a perfect score, while two student members also received highest honors in the individual competition with perfect papers.
  • The average SAT math score for Honors Summer Math camp participants is 755 out of a possible 800 - at the level of the best students at the top schools in the nation.

Director Awards and Recognitions

  • Max Warshauer, Texas State University System Regents' Professor, was honored by President George W. Bush with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) and by the U.S. Department of Education with the Teacher Recognition Award from its U.S. Scholars Program. 
  • Dr. Warshauer was awarded the 2010 Piper Professor Award by the Mini Steven Piper Foundation.

Award-Winning Research

  • In December 2009, the Mathworks Honors Summer Math Camp team of Kevin Chen, Sean Karson and Dan Liu won the prestigious national Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology with their project, "Relating Missing and Decycling Edges in Directed Graphs."  They shared a $100,000 college scholarship. 
  • Over the past 15 years, 154 students involved with research projects and mentors from the Honors Summer Math Camp have been named semifinalists or above in the Siemens Competition, including 66 regional finalists and 14 national finalists. 

Teacher Professional Development

  • Over the past 25 years, more than 800 Texas teachers have participated in summer teacher professional development with Mathworks.
  • Mathworks' innovative school-year Math Explorations textbooks aligns to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, and is on the state adoption list under Proclamation 2014 of the Texas Education Agency.

Alumni Recognition

  • Seven Honors Summer Math Camp alumni have been named Presidential Scholars.  Two students from each state in the nation are recognized each year in this national recognition program.
  • In a recent survey of former Honors Summer Math Camp (HSMC) participants, more than 80% indicated they are majoring in math, science or engineering.  Universities with the most HSMC alumni attending are The University of Texas at Austin, Stanford, MIT, Rice, Harvard, Texas A&M, Yale, Cal-Tech, and UC Berkeley.