Maria Gommel earns two awards at Honors Convocation

Maria Gommel, daughter of Mark and Laurie Gommel of Malta, Ill., received two awards—the Outstanding Major in Mathematics and the Outstanding Student in the Division of Science awards—during Honors Day May 14 at North Central College.

A senior, Maria is majoring in mathematics and actuarial science at North Central College. She is a graduate of DeKalb High School.

Maria also was recognized as the 2012 North Central College Lincoln Laureate, an annual award by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois that honors outstanding seniors at four-year degree-granting institutions in Illinois.

As a junior, Maria became a 2012 Goldwater Scholar, the highest national undergraduate award for achievement in mathematics, science and engineering. That year, she also co-presented research on epidemiology at the 2012 National Conference on Undergraduate Research.

Maria will graduate a College Scholar and completed an honors thesis titled “Cantor’s Continuum Hypothesis: To Infinity and Beyond.” She also presented her thesis project as an oral presentation during the College’s 2013 Rall Symposium for Undergraduate Research. Her name has regularly appeared on the Dean’s List.

After she graduates, Maria will begin a Ph.D. program in mathematics at the University of Iowa.