The H. Roy Brahana Prize is awarded to the student with the most exceptional undergraduate mathematics career. The award is not restricted to mathematics majors. The Brahana Prize is named in honor of H. Roy Brahana, a distinguished former professor of mathematics.

H. Roy Brahana was born in Lowell, Vermont in 1895. He received his bachelor's degree at Dartmouth College in 1916 and a Masters degree from Princeton in 1917. After a year and a half of service in the U. S. Army in World War I, he got his Ph.D. at Princeton University in 1920, writing his thesis in the emerging field of topology under the direction of Oswald Veblen. He joined the mathematics department of the University of Illinois immediately after getting his Ph.D. and remained on the staff until his retirement in 1963. At Illinois his interests turned to the theory of finite metabelian groups and related geometrical structures, and he supervised many Ph.D theses in that area. He served as acting head of the department of mathematics during the academic years 1947-1948 and 1954-1955. He served as editor of the works of G. A. Miller Professor Brahana was a very popular teacher and generously gave of his time to students at all levels. He and his wife were friendly people and helped create a warm atmosphere in which new faculty could flourish.

Recipients of the H. Roy Brahana Prize

2022  Jun Loo
2021  David Brewster
2020  Xiaomin Li
2019  Jared Krandel
2018  Boyan Xu  
2017  Haidong Gong  
2016  Boris Xu  
2015  Yiwang Chen  
2014  Daniel Hirsbrunner  
2013  Brian Freidin  
2012  Sakulbuth Ekvittayaniphon
2012  Jinjie He
2011  Meng Guo
2011  Yi Zeng
2010  Yi-Wei Chan
2010  Brent Nelson
2009  Richard A. Moy  
2008  Jack Scheff  
2007  David Edward Grayson  
2006  Simina Maria Boca  
2005  Wing Ho Ko  
2004  Noah Prince  
2003  David Deuber  
2002  David Smyth  
2001  Michael Geline  
2000  Eiji Aoki  
1999  Brad Aaron Friedman  
1998  Christopher Francisco
1998  Matthew Rodriguez  
1997  Ivan Ivramovic  
1996  Tsz Ho Chan
1996  Patrick J. Keenan  
1995  Thomas A. Insel  
1994  Christine Heitsch  
1993  David P. Nicholls  
1992  Howard Ding  
1991  Jeffrey Ho  
1990  Jeffrey Douglas  
1988  David Bryce Secrest  
1987  Reid Charles Huntsinger
1987  Brian Scott Pilz
1986  Michael D. Hollander  
1986  Jackson L. Kilpatrick
1985  Michael William Bell  
1984  Debra K. Borkovitz  
1983  Jerome V. Walsh  
1982  Oscar F. Hernandez  
1981  Craig Smith
1979  Christopher Bowen 
1979  Richard La Sota  
1978  Michael Stillman  
1977  Paul Hriljac
1976  Allen Moy  
1976  Bruce Hajek
1975  Jerome Coonen  
1974  Marlies Gerber  
1973  William van Melle  
1972  Mark Ephron  
1971  Michael W. Jamieson
1971  David Reiner  
1969  Stanley Paul Kerr
1969  Robert Edwin Olson
1969  Daniel Eaton Putnam  
1968  Eric Douglas Bedford  
1967  Edward Paul Culp  
1966  Paul Harvey Cox  
1965  Hugh Montgomery  
1964  William Alan Edelstein

The H. Roy Brahana Prize was not awarded in 1970, 1980, 1989.