U.S. Team Takes First in International Mathematical Olympiad

Team Trained at CMU Under Coach Po-Shen Loh

July 12, 2018

A U.S. team of high school students has taken first place in the 2018 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. This is the United States’ third world mathematics title in the last four years under Head Coach Po-Shen Loh, associate professor of mathematical sciences at Carnegie Mellon University.

Loh led the team’s final preparations at CMU, site of the Mathematical Association of America’s Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MAA’s MOP). The team had a third CMU connection this year, deputy team leader Sasha Rudenko, Loh’s assistant coach, is a graduate student in CMU’s Department of Mathematical Sciences.

During MOP, Loh, Rudenko and a number of teaching assistants help the U.S. IMO team sharpen their problem-solving skills alongside more than 70 of the world's most talented high school students. U.S. students are selected for the team and program based on their performance in the MAA's American Mathematics Competitions.

A select group of international students also are selected to participate in MOP. Funded by the Benter Foundation, the Allegheny Foundation, CMU's President's Office and Hillman Foundation through the Henry L. Hillman President's Chair, and CMU's Department of Mathematical Sciences, the addition of international students gives all of the MOP participants the chance for a multicultural experience similar to what the IMO team encounters at the competition. This year, students participated from Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Georgia, Greece, Korea, Romania, Thailand and Ukraine.