A Kettering University professor of Mathematics will receive the prestigious 2010 Chauvenet Prize for Mathematical Expository Writing from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Dr. Brian McCartin will be honored for his article “e: The Master of All,” that was published in the Mathematical Intelligencer Spring 2006 edition, a publication of Springer Science and Business Media, Inc.

“This is the sort of thing one dreams about but does not dare confess to dreaming about,” said McCartin of the award.

To qualify for the Chauvenet Prize, an expository article must have been published for at least two years. The prize consists of a $1,000 monetary award and a certificate and is normally awarded at the annual meeting of the Association, which this year will be in San Francisco in January. Due to health restrictions, McCartin will receive the prize at the regional meeting of the MAA in Ypsilanti, Mich.

First awarded in 1925, the prize is named for William Chauvenet, a professor of mathematics at the United States Naval Academy. It was established through a gift in 1925 from J.L. Coolidge, then MAA president. Winners of the Chauvenet Prize are among the most distinguished of mathematical expositors.

e is a mathematical constant that came into existence in the early 17th Century in the context of commercial transactions involving compound interest, according to McCartin. Since its discovery, it has been used in a variety of applications that include the scheduling of radiation therapy treatments and the definition of equiangular spirals like the one used to begin the Yellow Brick Road in the Wizard of Oz movie.

Some of his other awards include the Michigan MAA Award for Distinguished University Teaching in 2004. In 2008, he was Plenary Lecturer at the First American Conference on Applied Mathematics at Harvard University.

To read more about McCartin’s accomplishments, visit: http://www.kettering.edu/visitors/storydetail.jsp?storynum=2933

Located in Flint, Mich., Kettering University is the home of the country’s premier undergraduate professional cooperative education program and a national leader in the preparation of entrepreneurs and innovators. For more on Kettering, visit: www.kettering.edu