At its healthiest, academic culture can push us to strive for excellence. But at its worst, it can distort our identities and self-perception, leading us into places of self-doubt and mental anguish. It may seem like success on academic terms could solve these problems, but often success rings hollow, especially if unaccompanied by an abiding understanding of its ultimate meaning.

Join us as Francis Su, award-winning mathematician, reflects on the enigma of success and charts a way forward. In this interactive session attendees will get the chance to respond to Francis’ reflections at multiple points, creating a dialogue and conversation on how we can find our dignity not in our accomplishments, but in who God made us to be.

This event, hosted on Zoom, is made possible through the partnership of Anselm House (University of Minnesota) and Upper House (UW-Madison).

About Our Speaker

Francis Edward Su is the Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College(Claremont, CA) and former president of the Mathematical Association of America. His research is in geometric combinatorics and applications to the social sciences, and he has co-authored numerous papers with undergraduates. He also has a passion for teaching and popularizing mathematics. From the Mathematical Association of America, he received the 2018 Halmos-Ford award for writing, and the 2013 Haimo Award for distinguished teaching. His book Mathematics for Human Flourishing (Yale University Press) was published in January 2020 and is the winner of the Mathematics Association of America’s 2021 Euler Book Prize.