MAA NCS Fall 2026 meeting

Invited Speaker: Lauren Keough, Grand Valley State University (MAA-AWM Speaker)

Talk Title: Math Circle Magic for All

Talk Abstract:  One of my favorite ways to interact with people is through doing problems that people don’t always think of as “math”. I believe that one of the reasons to still do math in the age of AI, is for joy. But not enough people think of math as joyful!  I’ve led math circles at GVSU for several years, and in this talk we’ll explore a math circle created from a magic trick a student shared with me. This will be an interactive talk where audience members get to discuss their math ideas with each other and will (hopefully) get to leave with a new discovery of their own. I’ll also share other examples of math circles, a bit about my teaching philosophy, and ways you might spread the joy. 

Invited Speaker: James Sellers, University of Minnesota Duluth (2026 MAA NCS Meritorious Service Award Recipient)

Talk Title: Leonhard Euler’s Groundbreaking Work on Integer Partitions

Talk Abstract:  In the mid-18th century, Leonhard Euler single-handedly began the serious study of integer partitions and made fundamental contributions to the area for the next few decades. In particular, he proved a remarkable result which says that the number of partitions of the integer n into distinct parts equals the number of partitions of n into odd parts. My goal in this talk is to discuss Euler's impressive work on partitions, including snapshots of historical (original) publications of Euler, and then to describe numerous 19th, 20th, and 21st century results which spring from Euler's original result. The talk will be self-contained and geared towards anyone with an interest in mathematics.