Photo courtesy of Rod Searcey.
The Department of Applied Mathematics will host Persi Diaconis, Mary V. Sunseri Professor of Statistics and Mathematics, Stanford University, as the 2017 Karl Menger Lecturer. He will speak on “The Search for Randomness” on Monday, April 24 at 6 p.m. in the Robert A. Pritzker Science Center Auditorium. The event is part of the 10th annual Karl Menger Lecture and Awards; click here for a list of the two days of activities. Diaconis is particularly known for his often non-intuitive results on mathematical problems involving randomness. This includes showing how many riffle shuffles are needed to randomize a deck of playing cards. Diaconis is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, has received honorary doctorates from the University of Chicago and the University of St. Andrews, and has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as the “Genius Grant.” To RSVP, visit alumni.iit.edu/menger or contact Lauren Shelby at 312.567.5030 or rsvpevents@iit.edu.