You can also develop a relationship with a concentration advisor who in coming to know your strengths and weaknesses will better be able to advise you. In both cases, it is up to you to make and foster the contacts. Theory is the heart and soul of mathematics, and the research interests of most of the faculty center on formulating and proving new theoretical results, in some cases motivated by problems from the physical or biological sciences or the financial world. As a student in either the Pure or Honors Mathematics Programs you will be led gradually to understand and appreciate the role of abstraction and proof in mathematics. By specializing in one of the MSP Program Options you will choose an area of application of particular interest to you.
Mathematics demands careful, rigorous, analytical reasoning.
The intellectual development afforded by an undergraduate concentration in mathematics provides an excellent background for a wide variety of careers. Graduates of the University of Michigan Dep artment of Mathematics have gone on to successful careers in law, medicine, politics, and business, as well as every aspect of science, computer science, technology, and of course mathematics itself. Some have chosen to get further education in Mathematic s or another field, but many have taken interesting and challenging positions in industry, business, and government directly after graduation. We on the faculty all love mathematics and thrive on its complexity. One of our goals as teachers is to develop in you, the student, enough of an understanding of the subject to enable you to appreciate some of this beauty and elegance, for it is accessible only to the initiated.