Sonia Kovalevsky Days

April 5, 2025, 10:00am - 2:30pm in Marston Hall 2155. 

Registration is closed. The event is for grades 6-8. Students will be working in groups. If your student does not want to engage with other students, this may not be the event for them. 

Sonia Kovalevsky

SK Day is a fun and exciting mathematics event that was established more than 20 years ago by the Association for Women in Mathematics, to empower girls to pursue math and STEM. 

Sonia Kovalevsky was a pioneer for women in mathematics and science. Despite her obvious talent for mathematics, Sonia Kovalevsky could not complete her education in Russia. She had to emigrate to Germany because women were not allowed to attend universities in Russia at that time. She was the first woman to obtain a PhD in mathematics in Europe, the first woman to be appointed to a full professorship in Europe, and one of the first women to work as editor at a scientific journal. Born in Russia, she made substantial contributions to various fields of mathematics. The commemoration of her work does not imply endorsement of Russian policies, either now or then. 

The event is inspired by Sonia Kovalevsky Day (SK Day) - an international celebration of Ms. Kovalevsky, a pioneer in the effort to engage women in mathematics. The goal of the worldwide celebration of Sonia Kovalevsky Day is to stimulate young women’s interest in mathematics and to encourage them to pursue a career in math and science. 

Participants will engage in hands-on activities through a series of workshops on exciting math topics, and will have the chance to interact with other participants, mathematics graduate and undergraduate students and mathematics professors.

Our event is open to students of all genders in grades 6-8 and their teachers. We hope that you will join us for this special event!

Please email sk-math-day@iastate.edu

Sponsors

We would like to thank the following sponsors for helping us make Sonia Kovalevsky Day possible:

Workshop leaders

  • Victoria Blumen
  • Anna Halfpap
  • Grace McCourt

Organizers

Current poster

April 5, 2025. Workshop leaders: Victoria Blumen, Anna Halfpap, Grace McCourt.

Poster for 2025

Past posters

April 13, 2024. Workshop leaders: Victoria Blumen, Anna Halfpap, Emily Heath, Lina Li. 

SK Day 2024 poster

April 01, 2023. Workshop leaders: Victoria Blumen, Laura Gamboa Guzman, Dajuan Kinney.

Sonia Kovalevsky Day 2023 poster

April 09, 2022. Workshop leaders: Victoria Blumen, Pelin Guven Geredeli, Klaus Kadelka.

Sonia Kovalevsky Day 2022 flyer