SPELLING BEE WINNER BEGINS SINISTER PHASE 2: 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee Winner Evan O'Dorney (and fellow East Bay kid) has won the
2011 Intel Science Talent Search for his entry, "Continued Fraction Convergents and Linear fractional transformations."
I'd hate this kid if I didn't love him so much.
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ReplyDelete... <span>In August, he won a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad, which was followed by a congratulatory phone call from Obama.</span>
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On Tuesday, before the Intel winners were announced, Evan took another trip to the White House, where he and the other finalists met Obama.
For anyone counting, that's three conversations with a U.S. president and two presidential handshakes - all by age 17.
He's expected to hit the morning television circuit in New York Wednesday.
That might mean he'll miss a math class he takes at UC Berkeley Thursday afternoon, mother Jennifer O'Dorney said.
"I'm going to go to it and take notes for him," she said, laughing.
Math is that big of a deal to him.
Evan's ultimate goal is to earn a doctorate in math and become a professor.
In the fall, he plans to attend Harvard University, where he will probably solve more confounding math conundrums and never need spell-check. In the meantime, he won't be buying a flashy car with his $100,000 Intel prize to get to and from Massachusetts. Most of the money will cover the costs of his education, filling in for financial aid.
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I sat next to a guy on a plane who knew this kid and said that his mathematical acumen was far more impressive than his spelling.
ReplyDeleteWell, sure. At some point, what kinds of "discoveries" are spellers really making?
ReplyDeleteIt would have been awesome if he'd decided to go to Hampshire.
ReplyDeleteBecause having conquered spelling and mathematics, it's time to move on to frisbee?
ReplyDeleteI mean that he thought O'Dorney was more advanced at math than he was at spelling.
ReplyDeleteYea, a gold at the IMO is far more impressive than winning the Bee, I think.
ReplyDeleteWow. He placed second int he world. Next closest American was 27th.
ReplyDeleteA word of advice for Evan: don't help your professor build that death ray.
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ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/v/NORRxg-L9YE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140
I also must note the headline's shoutout to one of my all-time favorite Onion articles.
ReplyDeleteCan you hammer a six inch spike through a board with your penis?
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