1. Undergraduate Program Report
Alina Duca
Director of Undergraduate Program
Di Bucklad
Undergraduate Secretary
NCSU, Department of Mathematics
Fall Departmental Meeting
August 2013

2. The Alchemy of Air by Thomas Hager
Required Common Reading
for incoming undergraduate students
The Alchemy of Air by Thomas Hager
Fixed nitrogen (which is immediately usable to plants) is essential in agriculture. Its rarity, as science writer Hager (The Demon Under the
Microscope) shows, dramatically shaped the world and its politics. But by 1905, as Hager details, German chemist Fritz Haber discovered
a process for transforming abundant air-borne nitrogen into ammonia, and Carl Bosch's ingenious engineering scaled Haber's benchtop
chemistry into industrial processes to make fertilizer. But Hager's story is not only one of triumph, of how Haber and Bosch invented a way to turn air into bread, earning a Nobel Prize and saving millions from starvation. This is also a story of irony and tragedy. First, life-saving nitrogen is also the main ingredient in explosives, and Hager cogently summarizes the Haber-Bosch process's critical role in both world wars. In addition, Hager illustrates Haber's extreme German patriotism and desperate wish to assimilate; shattered by the rise of Hitler, he became an outcast, abandoned even by his onetime colleague Bosch. It's unfortunate that Hager ends his fine book with only a brief look at the deleterious role of nitrogen on the environment.
NCSU, Department of Mathematics
Fall Departmental Meeting
August 2013

3. Total MA/AMA Enrollment

4. Fall 2013 Freshman Admissions8 57 12 27 11 29 10
Fall Departmental Meeting
August 2013

5. Fall 2013 Freshman High School GPA (average)
Fall Departmental Meeting
August 2013

6. Progress Reporting in MyPack especially important for freshmen
not necessary for good students
do this at least once
for poor performers
goes to student
goes to adviser
Report available for advisees
Student cannot say “I didn’t know…”

7. Internal Transfer Admission Requirements NCSU students who wish to add or change major
Completion of the following courses, each with at least a B-
Completion of the following classes with a GPA of 2.5
ENG 101
PY 205
PY 208
An overall NCSU GPA of 2.9 or better

8. Automation of Internal Transfers

9. 2012 - 2013 Graduates 89 Graduates 12 Valedictorians (perfect 4.0 GPA)
12 Math Honors, 4 University Scholars and 5 University Honors
Average GPA:
45 double-majored in MED, PY, EC, ST, CSC, CH, MEA, NE
1 triple majored in CH, PY

10. 2012 - 2013 Graduates Future plans
Fall 2012
Spring 2013
Spring 2012
Spring 2011
Teaching in Public schools 3 2
Non-teaching jobs 14 13
Interviewing or looking for job 9 11 7
In process applying to Grad School 5
Accepted to Graduate School 28 21 12
Did not report plans

11. May 2013 Future Plans Survey PAMS

12. Thank you! NCSU, Department of Mathematics Fall Departmental Meeting
August 2013