The University of Waterloo team did extremely well in the 2013 Putnam Mathematical Competition, finishing seventh overall, and first among Canadian universities. The top five teams were Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Harvard, and California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech).
Congratulations to UWaterloo team members Kangning (Colin) Chen, Volodymyr Lyubinets, and Hao Sun, and to coach Professor Stephen New of the Pure Mathematics department.
Many UWaterloo students performed exceptionally well in the competition, with six among the top 200 individuals. Kangning (Colin) Chen and Sam Eisenstat each received honourable mention and were both ranked 40th among the 4,113 contestants. Volodymyr Lyubinets and Daniel Spivak both ranked in the top 100. Ariel Gershon and and Paul Musgrave both ranked in the top 200.
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is an annual contest for university students in the U.S. and Canada. Waterloo has finished in the top five 18 times since 1968.