The challenge
When Hertz Fellow Po-Shen Loh took over as head coach of the U.S. Mathematical Olympiad team in 2013, the group was in a slump. They hadn’t won since 1994.
Loh was the perfect candidate to guide this high school group of young scientists. Not only is he a professor in the department of mathematical sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, but he also calls himself an evangelist for education, and pushes the need for education and “intellectual fearlessness.”
“If you want to change the world, it helps to be a little crazy,” Loh told Carnegie Mellon News.
The solution
Instead of forcing rote memorization or doing academic drills (in both the classroom and the competition prep), Loh focused on creativity, exploration and human value.
“The kind of message that I sent had nothing to do with performance in the contest. It was more on the importance of having some sense of responsibility, given all of these skills,” he said.
In 2015, the U.S. team won for the first time in 21 years. They did it again in 2016 (which earned them a trip to the White House), and in 2018 and 2019.
Loh stepped down from his coaching role in 2023, but still went to the 2024 games to speak to teams around the world, including those from Rwanda, Malaysia, Ghana, Singapore and Slovakia.
“I’m not actually here to represent one particular country anymore. My philosophy is that I like to connect the world,” he said. He’s also been working to form a Math Olympiad alumni association, and he organized the first alumni reunion, which was held during the 2024 event.
The Impact
Through Loh’s work at the Math Olympiad and in education, he’s reached thousands of current and future mathematicians. He also reaches them through his advocacy, which includes speeches and a YouTube “Ask Math Anything” series.
This hasn’t slowed his laboratory work, though. He’s been working to invent scalable solutions to uplift human intelligence and empathy, with an eye on helping society thrive in an AI world, including how it can work with mathematical complexities.
