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Editor's note: This article is a part of a series reviewing Utah history for KSL.com's Historic section.SALT LAKE CITY — A statewide high school mathematics competition took place at the University of Utah in 1958. Sixty years later, the winners of the competition have made some impressive accomplishments in the science and mathematics industry.
The competition was based on an exam, according to contestant W. Roger Cannon. He said that any student who thought they were good with mathematics was allowed to enter the contest and take the exam. He was an East High student at the time and was among those who participated in the contest.
“I remember going to the University of Utah and sitting in a lecture hall,” Cannon said. “I remember around 20 to 30 students who were taking the exam.”
Cannon did not place, but ended up receiving honorable mention for his results in the competition, according to a newspaper article at the time.
Nearly 60 years after taking the exam, Cannon is now a professor emeritus in the department of ceramic and materials engineering at Rutgers University. But he isn’t the only contestant who found success.
Kip S. Thorne, of Logan, placed fifth in the competition, and went on to achieve one of the highest honors in the world: a Nobel Prize.
The second-place winner of the competition was Olympus High School alumnus Joseph L. Taylor. He ended up specializing in algebra and eventually became an instructor at Harvard University, according to the University of Utah website. Taylor taught a Benjamin Peirce course at Harvard, a class based upon specific mathematics principles theorized by the former student and instructor.
Taylor was also instrumental in the development of the mathematics department at the University of Utah. The university's website says he served as chair of the mathematics department, dean of the College of Science and vice president for academic affairs.
Joseph L. Taylor died on July 28, 2016, at the age of 75.
Sixth-place winner Roger Noll also had some impressive accomplishments since the high school math competition. He is currently a professor emeritus of economics at Stanford University. According to the university website, Noll received his undergraduate degree in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology and his doctorate in economics from Harvard University.
Noll is also currently a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Outside of his academic contributions, Stanford says Noll was a member of the advisory board for the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the National Science Foundation. He is also the author or co-author of 14 books.
