 Thank you for this wonderful honor It's not often that I have the opportunity to attend an event like this Where we're celebrating math and sports Come to think of it. I think this is certainly the first. I'm often asked What do math and football have in common or how did math help me as an elite football player? I? Usually dodge the question By talking about how you can describe football as physics through the language of math Which is strictly true? Since you can describe anything in the language of math, but honestly math and football don't have a lot in common. I Will say math has served me extremely extremely well in fantasy football though, but math and sports they share something They're both a game and I love games I've loved games ever since I was a kid in fact When I was little math was a game my mom my mom yes My mom who had enough on her hands without having to chase after me Realized she could keep me occupied with math workbooks and puzzle books. I Would happily do them for hours. I Had no idea that any of the things I was doing was related to the things I was doing at school I just thought I was playing in the same way. I would play street hockey My mom also went to Toys R Us and got a stack of board games Every Friday night was family night We'd order a pizza and play Monopoly connect for battleship These games were teaching me a number of basic skills that I still use in my mathematics research today logic quantitative reasoning Probability not to mention perseverance. I was Extremely extremely competitive losing actually produced a physical pain in my chest as I grew older I still loved playing board games and math and science were my favorite subjects in school But I was much more interested in that other kind of game sports What happened on one level? I think it's pretty obvious Sports are fun. I craved the competition the adrenaline and the challenge in High school. I made some of my best friends through football Sports could be hard at times even painful But my teammates and I shared that challenge and shared that pain and we had a common goal and Of course Sports are a common culture They cut across age race economic status When a kid turns on the TV He or she sees athletes Not mathematicians They see how desirable it is to be an NFL player or an NBA star Or even a relatively mediocre Unpaid college point guard with a future as a plumber They don't see the part about the plumber, but if you have any athletic talent when you're a kid People will encourage it. I had coaches in my ear Motivating me to do just one more rep in the weight room when I thought I couldn't do anymore. I Had the example of so many athletes and teammates next to me putting it on the line Strangers would come up to me and encourage me They would literally cheer for me strangers And I'm not talking about my time in the NFL I'm talking about high school Needless to say I didn't have math teachers who are coaxing one more problem out of me They weren't calling the Princeton math department and telling them to recruit me the way my high school football coach Was calling the Alabama football team. I Didn't have any public mathematicians to inspire me or for me to want to emulate I Didn't even know what a mathematician did when I was a kid The only person who was actively encouraging me in math and science cheering for me even was You guessed it my mother Like all mothers she was convinced. I was brilliant and that I should know would become a rocket scientist It wasn't until I got to Penn State that I began to see my potential in mathematics It was only then that I started to think about it as something I should care about Something that might even be my calling and that wasn't just because I realized I had a talent for it Everybody knows that Penn State is a football school and with good reason Beaver Stadium seats more than a hundred thousand people on game day And I'm convinced we have the best fans in the world. I Like it But what most people don't know is Penn State also has a good math department And it was there that I found my first mentors People like Vadim Kalosha who handed me a graduate textbook one day and gave me my first research project People like Souja who who introduced me to numerical analysis and quickly became a collaborator Even though I was only an undergraduate People like Ludmila Zikatanoff who was more than a mentor. He became one of my best friends Those people and others helped me to see how incredible Interesting and beautiful mathematics could be and they helped me see it What they helped me see it in a way that I had never seen it before They showed me clarity rigor patience and creativity I Came to see mathematics not only as a solitary endeavor But as a community Later I Would find that that's one of the most amazing things about MIT Not only are there so many brilliant people, but they work together When you walk down the hallways You'll see small clusters of people in the seminar room or maybe a breakout space Gathered in front of a chalkboard sharing ideas puzzling through a problem The chance to learn from these minds to play with ideas together This is what I love most about MIT. I've thought a lot about what it means to be a great mathematician The first criterion is obvious You have to solve good problems But I don't believe that a mathematician's worth Lies fully in the problems he solved The second criterion should be that he or she makes their solutions accessible available to other mathematicians and In a way that's as clear as possible Mathematics is a field in which the work of one builds on the work of others. That's the way of progress Work done in isolation does not contribute to our overall understanding of the universe Which I believe is a fundamental goal of mathematics Related to that I think mathematicians should be in the service of others The service of other fields It's the language of physics biology chemistry all of the sciences and through logic It's the basics for understanding human reason Finally and just importantly I believe the great mathematicians should inspire the next generation of young thinkers They can do that in different ways Directly or indirectly They can do it by collaborating with younger mathematicians like my advisor at MIT Michelle Gomans does with me They can do it by the example and dissemination of their work And they can do it by reaching out and encouraging others This aspect of mathematics. I believe is often overlooked at least by the public and yet I Think this is a requirement for us as mathematicians to make a lasting contribution. I Believe it's up to all of us to encourage young people to pursue mathematics Whether as a career or as a tool in whatever they're passionate in or even as a source of pleasure The way puzzles are for me It's my goal Even I believe my responsibility To try to help others see how fascinating Rewarding and even fun mathematics can be I Want us to put an end to the idea that anyone can say casually that math isn't for me Math should be in some respect for everyone We don't as a society tolerate illiteracy We shouldn't accept math illiteracy either Beyond that Thank you Beyond that I believe we should identify those who are interested in math Encourage them and give them opportunities to push themselves and excel Much in the same way people routinely do for young athletes. I wish that when I were in high school I had mathematicians to look up to and inspire me on the television in the news The good news though is That it's easier than ever to connect with aspiring mathematicians in the community on the internet They can take a course taught by Eric Domain They can watch actual MIT lectures by MIT professors for free Through MIT's open courseware They can go into the forums on stack exchange and browse topics Ask questions and connect with mathematicians from all over the world It really is incredible They can go and read Terry Tao's blog Every resource a mathematician could want is only a few keystrokes away But accessibility is only part of the story How can we motivate young people to become interested in math? There will always be kids who know from an early age That that is what they love, who dream of winning the math olympiad Not a gold medal at the Olympics But that only describes a few I'll bet there are a whole lot more kids just like me Who weren't even aware of their aptitude and interest Who weren't being challenged Who didn't even know that mathematics is a field that you can do things in How do we reach them? How do we show them that math isn't just homework, that it isn't just drudgery? The National Museum of Mathematics is an important part of this effort Their emphasis on interactive exhibitions, collaborative projects and surprising solutions Can instill a sense of wonder and excitement about mathematics They can help instill a sense of satisfaction when a hard problem or puzzle is solved I know no better feeling than that sense of satisfaction It's not unlike winning a game Only the game couldn't be more important It's the game of determining what holds true Thank you again to the National Museum of Mathematics and most importantly thank you to all of you When a child looks at the Museum of Math, they see interesting and challenging exhibits and games And a glimpse of the fascinating mathematics that underpins them When I look at the museum, I see something different I see a community of people who know in their hearts That math matters and who have made it a part of their life's mission to promote Mathematics and inspire the next generation of young thinkers And it warms my heart For that I thank you. I'm Tim this and I'm the Associate Director of Mathematics on behalf of the Museum I'm honored to award to you this gift, which I know you've received many trophies before And I like it. Let me see if I can get this. There we go John's has played on many fields. You might recognize this one Eloquence and enthusiasm in voting mathematics. We thank you this community. Thanks you and We're honored to have you here to speak to us. So and thank you all very much for coming Thank you for your generosity and we will see you next year hopefully and we will certainly see you at the Museum of Mathematics Good night