William Karl Schwarze Scholarship in Mathematics

William Karl Schwarze was born in 1942 in San Francisco. He excelled in math early, going on to get a bachelor’s at UC Davis, and attending graduate school in Berkeley. Though a math teacher in San Francisco, Bill accumulated substantial wealth in the Bay Area real estate market. Since his death in 1988, this trust has been used for various humanitarian purposes and college scholarships.

This award is given to graduate students in Mathematics who have demonstrated outstanding mathematical scholarship and exceptional promise of making a strong professional contribution as a mathematics teacher and educator at the pre-college or college level.

For whom is this award given?

This scholarship is given to a graduate student who has demonstrated excellence in teaching and academic ability in the Department of Mathematics at UC Davis. The purpose of the award is to recruit and retain outstanding students in mathematics with these qualifications. This award may be applied as early as the summer following the receipt of the scholarship but must include, at minimum, one quarter of the following academic year. Therefore, a recipient of this scholarship must register as a full-time graduate student for at least one quarter during the academic year following the award. Alternatively, it would be acceptable if the recipient wishes to be part-time (per Graduate Studies guidelines) for three quarters instead of full-time for one quarter.

Who is eligible?

Any new or continuing student — domestic or international — in either graduate program in the Department of Mathematics at UC Davis is eligible. They must also have a GPA of 3.5 or above. Preference will be given to students who have not previously won this scholarship.

What is the award amount?

Typically $5,000- $10,000 is awarded to a recipient. More than one award can be given or can be held over if there is no suitable candidate.

What is the selection process?

Each year a call for nominations will be made by the Department's Student Services Office to obtain candidates. This call will be distributed to all faculty and graduate students in the Department. Faculty affiliated with the Graduate Group in Applied Mathematics (GGAM) will also receive this call.

Faculty members are encouraged to nominate his/her student or a graduate student may self-nominate his/her name for consideration. Candidates are then asked to submit an application to the Graduate Coordinator in the Department's Student Services Office by a date specified in the call.

Annually, the Faculty Representative Committee (FRC) appoints an Awards Committee, consisting of three faculty members from the Department of Mathematics, to receive the applications and make a recommendation to the Graduate Program Committee (GPC). The GPC will act on the committee's recommendation and communicate it to Graduate Studies. The winning candidate(s) will be notified shortly thereafter.

Download the W.K.Schwarze Scholarship Application (Fillable PDF).

Past Recipients: William Karl Schwarze Scholarship in Mathematics

  • 1997 - Curtis Feist
  • 1998 - David Brown
  • 1999 - Michael Casey
  • 2000 - James Pierce
  • 2001 - Michael Scott
  • 2002 - Justin Abbott and Shawna Bynum
  • 2003 - Erin Caunenta
  • 2004 - Emil Sargsyan
  • 2005 - Leslie Young
  • 2006 - Yvonne Lai
  • 2007 - Hillel Raz
  • 2008 - Patrick Dragon
  • 2009 - Marion Moore
  • 2010 - Mihaela Ifrim
  • 2011 - Anna Vershynina
  • 2012 - Jeffrey Anderson
  • 2013 - Tim Wertz
  • 2014 - Amanda Young
  • 2015 - Indrajit Jana
  • 2016 - Jamie Haddock
  • 2017 - William Cuello and Kevin Lamb
  • 2018 - Nathaniel Gallup and Ka Wai "Karry" Wong
  • 2019 - Samuel Fleischer and Jake Reschke
  • 2020 - Wencin Poh and Eric Severson
  • 2021 - Cooper Jacob and Xiaotie Jessie Chen
  • 2022 - Matthew Litman
  • 2023 - Eli Moore, Mary Claire Simone