The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition began in 1938 in honor of William Lowell Putnam, who profoundly believed in the value of team competition in regular college studies. Designated to stimulate a healthy rivalry in math studies between college and universities in the United States and Canada, the contest is administered by the MAA to full-time undergraduate students who have not yet received a college degree. The five highest ranking individuals in the Putnam Math Contest are designated "Putnam Fellows" by the MAA. Here at OSU, we are proud to have worked closely with three Putnam Fellows: Robert W. Gibson (1938), former OSU Math faculty member; Abraham Hillman (1939), former author of the Annual OSU High School Math Contest; and current Math faculty member, David Wright (1976).

The competition is open only to regularly enrolled undergraduates in colleges and universities of the United States and Canada who have not yet received a college degree. No individual may participate in the competition more than four times. A college or university with at least three registered entrants obtains a team rank through the positions achieved by three designated individual contestants. Old problems, solutions, and results are available online.

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