Sarah G. Rody ’12 wins award from Mathematical Association of America

Sarah G. Rody ‘12, a professor of mathematics at Chestnut Hill College, received the Paul R. Halmos – Lester R. Ford Award last month from the Mathematical Association of America. The award recognizes authors of notable articles published in The American Mathematical Monthly.

Rody and three other authors (Eli M. Hicks, R. Andrew Hicks and Ron Perline) were awarded the award for their article, “Frobenius Integrability, Automotive Blind Spots, Non-reversing Mirrors, and Panoramic Mirrors.” The article discusses inverse problems and geometric optics, using accessible language and connecting the authors’ findings to real-life scenarios. The authors include not only diagrams and photographs, but also discussion of the broader context of the historical and technological background.

Rody and the other authors said in a statement that they were “deeply honored” to receive the award. “One of the aims of our article,” they said, “was to alert the mathematical community to some of the recent developments in optical design.”

The article was one of four awarded with the Halmos-Ford award at MathFest 2024. MathFest, held in Indianapolis this year, is an annual convention welcoming mathematicians and other notable people within the field of mathematics from all over the world. At the same convention, Goshen College professor David Housman also received an award for his contributions and commitment to the mathematical community.

After graduating from Goshen College, Rody earned her Ph.D. at Drexel University in 2019. She now teaches a number of courses at Chestnut Hill, including calculus, game theory and linear algebra. In her free time, she knits and plays Ultimate Frisbee.