Keynotes

Sir Ken Robinson | Dr. Eric Barron | Michelle Wolf | Dr. Patricia Perillo | Kathleen Ives, D.M.

2024 Keynote Speaker: John Urschel

John Urschel is a mathematician and a former NFL offensive lineman. Urschel attended Penn State University, where he played football and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics. While at Penn State, he was awarded the Campbell Trophy, commonly known as the “Academic Heisman,” and the Sullivan Award, presented to “the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.”

As an applied mathematician, Urschel’s research is focused on matrix analysis and computations. He is primarily interested in theoretical results and provable guarantees for practical algorithms/problems, which often lead to new and improved algorithms. In 2017, Urschel was named to Forbes’ “30 under 30” list of outstanding young scientists, and, in 2019, published a New York Times-bestselling memoir, “Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football.”

Currently, Urschel is an assistant professor in the MIT Math department. He has previously held appointments as a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellow and as a member of the Institute for Advanced Study. He received his PhD in mathematics from MIT in 2021, under the supervision of Michel Goemans.

Urschel’s keynote address will explore the ways in which technology has shaped him as a mathematician and continues to impact the way he learns new material, teaches concepts to others, and performs research.