About Us

The Department of Mathematics at the University of Chicago is one of the most exciting places in the world to do mathematics. We have over 30 tenured and tenure-track faculty working in areas as various as combinatorics, algebraic geometry, number theory, pure and applied analysis, representation theory, probability, geometry, topology, dynamical systems, logic, and financial mathematics, along with a similar number of Dickson Instructors. The research environment in the department is very lively, with seminars meeting virtually every day of the week and a constant stream of visitors. In addition, the department hosts regular colloquia, and several annual lecture series, including the Adrian Albert Lectures in Algebra, the Zygmund-Calderón Lectures in Analysis, the Charles J. Amick Memorial Lectures in Applied Mathematics, the Unni Namboodiri Lectures in Geometry and Topology, the Patrick Billingsley Lecture in Probability (joint with the Statistics Department), and the newly established ZhengTong Chern-Weil Symposium in Mathematics.

At the graduate level, the department has a large Ph.D. program in Mathematics, a joint Math/CS Ph.D. program, and an M.S. in Financial Mathematics. We offer our different undergraduate programs of study (B.S. in Mathematics, B.A. in Mathematics, B.S in Applied Mathematics, B.S. with a specialization in Economics), a Minor in Mathematics, and we collaborate with the Departments of Computer Science and Statistics to offer a B.S. in Computational and Applied Mathematics. Typically, around 10% of graduating seniors in the College graduate with degrees in mathematics.

A number of outreach programs operate out of the Department, including programs aimed at 5th-12th grade students (the Young Scholars Program and Math Circles), Chicago Public School teachers (the SESAME Program and the Polk Brother Foundation Program), and undergraduates across the nation (the University of Chicago Mathematics Research Experience and occasional summer schools.

The Department was founded in 1892, in the same year as the University itself. For a history of the Department written by Saunders Mac Lane, please see Celebratio Mathematica.