Ashland University Mathemagician to be Featured Speaker for Mathematics Day 2018

Escape to a world of mystery and magic presented by the University of Findlay’s Mathematics Day! Scheduled for Thursday, March 15, the event will feature Ashland University’s Christopher Swanson, Ph.D., whose interests in the increasingly popular “escape room” entertainment venues and making math fun for everyone with his own “mathemagic” tricks, will hold the crowd’s attention.
Events, which are free and open to the public, will commence in the Alumni Memorial Union’s Multipurpose Room with Swanson’s 10 a.m. presentation titled “When One Door Opens, Another Closes.”
“While I have not participated in an escape room… I have great interest in doing so and was curious if there was an app for available that would simulate an escape room,” he said. “In searching, I found the app ‘100 Doors Challenge’ and discovered that mathematics was helpful in opening doors on some of the levels.”
Swanson will show how individuals can use the app to open some doors and progress to the next closed door.
At 1 p.m., Swanson will present “Mathemagic,” where he will present some of his favorite math-related tricks that he developed to increase student attendance at Ashland University’s Math Club. He will also discuss the mathematics that enables the tricks.
Swanson is professor of mathematics and director of the Honors Program, having joined the faculty in 1999. He is the developer of Ashland University’s actuarial science major, advisor to Ashland University’s Ohio Rho chapter of the national mathematics honorary Pi Mu Epsilon, advisor to its team for the national William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, and organizer of Ashland’s Problem of the Month competition.
Swanson’s research interests include combinatorics, probability and number theory. He received a Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science in mathematics from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor of science from Denison University.
UF’s Mathematics Day will also include presentations from faculty and a Pi Mu Epsilon induction ceremony.

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