Mu Alpha Theta Steven Dunbar Award

The Mu Alpha Theta Steven Dunbar Award was created in 2018 and its first recipient was awarded in 2019. This $250 prize serves to recognize the significant contributions of Steven Dunbar and the longstanding partnership between Mu Alpha Theta and the Mathematical Association of America. The top USAMO qualifier who is also a Mu Alpha Theta member will receive this award.

Steven Dunbar was an avid math student in high school, and participated in the American High School Mathematics Exam, the precursor to the current AMC 12. He majored in math at the University of Nebraska and received a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Minnesota in 1981. He returned to the University of Nebraska on the mathematics faculty in 1985. In 2001, he began working with the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), including coordinating activities and awards with Mu Alpha Theta. In 2004, he became director of the American Mathematics Competitions program and also worked with Mu Alpha Theta as the MAA Representative to the Governing Council. He retired from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2015 and as Director of the AMC but remains active with the AMC 8 and AMC 10/12 contest committees.