Scoring well in the William Lowell Putnam competition has many benefits, especially for someone aspiring to a life in academia. This competition is the Super Bowl of intellectual prowess at the collegiate level. Among the winners of Putnam competitions are some of the celebrated icons of the mathematics and physics world. Included in this pantheon are Fields Medalists John Milnor (1962), Paul Cohen (1966), who proved the undecidability of the continuum hypothesis, John G. Thompson (1970), David Mumford (1974), and Daniel Quillen (1978). Physics Nobel Laureates who have received Honorable Mention or better were Richard Feynman, a Putnam Fellow in 1939, Kenneth G. Wilson, a two-time Putnam Fellow, Steven Weinberg, and Murray Gell-Mann. The Nobel Prize winner in Economics, John Nash, made famous in the movie A Beautiful Mind, finished in the top ten of 147 individuals in 1947.
More recently, Ravi Vakil, Professor of Mathematics at Stanford and President of the American Mathematical Association, placed among the top five competitors in the Putnam Mathematical Competition, in all four of his undergraduate years, earning him the top award of Putnam Fellow in each year. This distinction was also achieved by Manjul Bhargava, recent winner of the Fields Medal. Since its inception in 1938, only 9 competitors have been able to achieve Putnam Fellow status in all of their undergraduate years.
Even outside of academia, high achievement on the Putnam competition is an important part of a resume for employers are are seeking highly intelligent people. Companies such as D.E. Shaw & Company, that place a high premium on brains, hired three-time Putnam Fellow, J. P. Grossman for work in computer development.
High achievement on the Putnam Competition signals that a person is among the brightest of the bright. That is not only a signal to prospective employers, but it’s definitely an entitlement to some braggin’ rights and some personal affirmation.
