MAA Announces the Honorable Mentions for the 2026 Mohammad K. Azarian Award
The Mathematical Association of America is pleased to recognize Warut Suksompong, Winter Mascot, and Gregory Galperin and Robert Foote as honorable mentions for the 2026 Mohammad K. Azarian Award.
Mohammad K. Azarian Award
The Mohammad K. Azarian Award recognizes individuals who contribute to the advancement of mathematics through their exceptional ability to craft innovative problems featured in MAA publications and the robust world of the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC).
About This Year's Recipients
Warut Suksompong — Mathematics Magazine Quickie 1156
Problem citation: Problems and Solutions. (2025). Mathematics Magazine, 98(5), 479–488. https://doi.org/10.1080/0025570X.2025.2589005
Solution citation: Problems and Solutions. (2025). Mathematics Magazine, 98(5), 479–488. https://doi.org/10.1080/0025570X.2025.2589005
Suksompong's problem presents a functional equation that is quick to state and, for the clever solver, quick to resolve, yet draws meaningfully on both number theory and analysis to reach a solution.
It is the kind of problem that looks approachable at first glance but rewards careful mathematical thinking, making it a strong example of elegant problem design.
Reflecting on the honor, Suksompong says, “It is a privilege to receive this recognition. I am grateful to the MAA for establishing an award that celebrates the art of problem writing. This initiative will undoubtedly inspire a new generation of writers to share their creativity with the mathematical community.”
Winter Mascot — 2025 American Invitational Mathematical Examination, Problem #15
Winter Mascot's problem is built around partitions of a square grid into rectangular paths, asking in how many ways a 2n-by-2n grid can be covered using the minimum number of rectangular paths. The problem is carefully constructed, and includes a clever trap: while the answers for n=1,2,3,4 follow an apparent pattern of 1, 3, 9, and 27, the answer for n=5 breaks from it in a surprising way.
It is a combinatorics problem that rewards both careful reasoning and a healthy skepticism of patterns that seem too neat to be true.
In response to the award, Mascot stated, “To me, receiving this award is an indication that my efforts are valued. Since my problem writing is mostly volunteer work, my payment comes in the form of others, both students and peers, gushing to me about how much they've loved my problems. It's the best payment I could ask for, and it's truly an honor to be formally recognized for my art, especially after so many years of service to the MAA.”
Robert Foote and Gregory Galperin — AMM Problem 12438
Problem citation: Problems and Solutions. The American Mathematical Monthly, 131(1), 76–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029890.2023.2266980
Solution citation: Problems and Solutions. The American Mathematical Monthly, 132(9), 930–940. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029890.2025.2542705
Foote and Galperin's problem takes an isosceles trapezoid inscribed in a circle and builds from it an ellipse whose minor axis connects the midpoints of the parallel sides and whose major axis equals the diagonal. The result, that this ellipse is tangent to the circumcircle, is surprising yet approachable. While a computational proof is within reach, the problem's deeper elegance emerges when the geometry is lifted into three-dimensional space.
The problem grew out of Foote and Galperin's long collaboration on the representation of circles in the Beltrami-Klein model of the hyperbolic plane. It stands as a fitting testament to the work of Robert Foote, who passed away in 2024 and whose contributions to mathematics and to his students at Wabash College left a lasting mark.
Galperin wrote, “I'm amazed and delighted to receive this award for creating a new interesting non-trivial geometric problem, which has an unexpected beautiful 3-D solution.”
Learn more about MAA prizes and submit a nomination.
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