The smallest state in the country has two centers of world-class mathematics. The American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) are both located in Providence, RI. The AMS publishes many research journals, and maintains an electronic database called MathSciNet, among many other services. ICERM's mission is to solidify the relationship between mathematics and computation.

Professor Oanh Nguyen was honored with a Salomon Award for her research work regarding the limited distribution for the number of real roots. The goal of her research is to study fundamental problems concerning the distribution of roots of random polynomials and random functions. This is Professor Nguyen's first year as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Applied Mathematics here at Brown.

Kavita Ramanan, Professor of Applied Mathematics, uses randomness as a powerful tool to make predictions about complex systems. These systems range from statistical physics to communication networks which exist in the world around us. The tool of randomness can even help to determine the spread of infectious diseases. Ramanan states that in our world randomness shows itself as an incomplete understanding of complex systems. However, randomness can enable, even those things which might be computationally impossible, useful predictions about things that are not fully understood.