The AMS has presented $3,000 awards to each of eight undergraduate students through the Waldemar J. Trjitzinsky Memorial Fund, made possible by a bequest from the estate of Waldemar J., Barbara G., and Juliette Trjitzinsky. Each year the AMS selects several geographically distributed schools, which in turn make one-time awards to beginning mathematical students to assist them in pursuit of careers in mathematics.
Jack Bryant Giannetti is a third-year Mathematics major and Spanish and Economics minor at UF. He first realized that he had a passion for mathematics in middle school, when, bored by his algebra class, he started studying calculus with the help of free recorded online university lectures . . . and he simply could not stop. By the time he took calculus in high school, he had moved on to studying other, more advanced topics. Since he did not have access to dual enrollment, he directed all his curiosity and mathematical inquiries to the math teachers at his school, only to be left disappointed when he discovered that they could neither answer his questions nor show the interest to do so. It is for this reason that Jack still thinks that he has much to learn. Jack hopes to take a break from his studies after graduation and teach mathematics at the high school level. This is not just a personal career choice for him, but a way of ensuring that all those bright, curious young minds—and prospective UF students—are not left devoid of a role model who can challenge them and inspire a deeper appreciation for mathematics, which is often neglected in pre-university education.