Dean's Medalist shares love of math and music performance

This spring, Chandler, Arizona, native Katarina Fenner will graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and a minor in clarinet performance. 

As an excelling student in Barrett, The Honors College, her many accolades include a National Merit Scholarship, New American University Scholarship, Moeur Award and now the prestigious Dean’s Medal. She will represent the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (SoMSS) as banner carrier and lead her fellow graduates during the The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Gold Convocation processional on May 17.

Fenner preferred to stay in-state for college for financial reasons and liked both the mathematics and music programs at ASU — for music, specifically the marching band and clarinet studio.

She always loved math and wanted to be a teacher, but her “aha” moment came in high school. One of her teachers was a graduate of ASU’s mathematics program and had much enthusiasm for math and for every lesson she taught.

“It made me realize that the key factor to loving math is to have a good teacher. My original plan was to earn my bachelor’s degree in math and then do ASU’s 4+1 program to earn my master’s, then go on to teach high school,” Fenner said. “However, while in college, I realized both that I enjoyed doing research and that I wanted to eventually teach at a collegiate level, which inspired me to pursue my PhD.”

After graduation, she will be pursuing a PhD in mathematics education at ASU. 

Besides her coursework, she has been a member of the Sun Devil Marching Band/Sun Devil Pep Band every semester, as well as a member of either the Maroon and Gold Concert Band or ASU Wind Symphony, even teaching herself mellophone so she could march a season of Drum Corps.

She also worked as an instructional assistant and grader for the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences and as a math tutor with the Joaquin Bustoz Math Science Honors Program.

Fenner's college life has not been without challenges. She sometimes pushed herself too hard academically and had some physical health issues during her time at ASU, but she said she felt supported by those around her.

“I feel like my friends and family have encouraged all of my pursuits, both academic and musically,” she said.

“I would credit President’s Professor Matthias Kawski and Associate Professor Susanna Fishel as the two professors who most supported me. Kawski has always been incredibly kind and supportive, encouraging me to attend a conference about math graduate school and later encouraging me to apply for PhD programs; I genuinely do not think I would be getting ready to start my PhD this upcoming fall without his support. Additionally, Fishel’s classes are where I really found my love of proof-based math, and I always felt comfortable asking her questions in class and in office hours.”

Kawski vividly remembers Fenner in his MAT 371 (Advanced Calculus) class.

“She was one of the very first volunteers to present work on the board in WXLR (Wexler Hall) A102, setting the stage for precision, meticulous attention to detail and focus on clear communication with her attendant audience,” Kawski said.

“Katarina is a role model in every way: from academic excellence, actively contributing to every class by presenting and constructively critiquing, to understanding her audience, to passion for sharing her insight and compassion for all who needed a little nudge when stuck.”

Fenner said her time in the school has given her a deeper understanding of mathematics and an appreciation for the logical ideas that matter most in math. 

“While I already loved math before starting at ASU, I liked it because it was concrete — you did the process and solved for the answer and there was one correct answer,” she said. “I now love math for the pursuit of the answer and the logical journey required to find it, and I think that represents a significant growth in my mindset towards mathematics as a whole.”

We asked Fenner to share some of her experiences as a Sun Devil.

Note: Answers have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Question: What’s something you learned while at ASU that surprised you, that changed your perspective?

Answer: I think the most perspective-changing thing that I learned at ASU was reading the book “A Mathematician’s Lament” by Paul Lockhart. It’s a really amazing book about math education and talks about the art of discovery in mathematics. I love its description of math as a form of art, as something beautiful, as a means of human expression in the same way that music is. 

Q: Which professor taught you the most important lesson while at ASU?

A: I think Dr. Matthias Kawski, who I took MAT 371 with, taught me the most important lesson while at ASU. In the class, he made it clear from the beginning that we should focus more on understanding the material and putting effort into our work than our numerical grades, because if we understood the material well, we would get a good grade in the course. As someone who’s a bit of a perfectionist, this was a little hard to accept at first, but it ended up being quite helpful. 

His system of grading on effort and final understanding rather than unforgiving numerical grades helped me to learn the material a lot more thoroughly, and being able to learn proofs that way gave me a strong foundation to apply in more advanced math courses.

Q: What was your favorite math class in SoMSS and why?

A: Combinatorics (MAT 512) with Dr. Fishel. I really enjoy courses that are based in proofs and logic but set in easy-to-understand scenarios. For example, at its core, combinatorics is about counting things, which isn’t an abstract concept. This type of math is intriguing because the ideas you’re exploring are ones anyone could understand — counting paths from one coordinate to another following a set of rules, considering the number of distinct ways to color a shape — but you have to thoroughly explain your logical steps through proofs, which often end up being quite elegant arguments. I really enjoy math classes with a basis in logical arguments but without extremely abstract ideas.

Q: What is most misunderstood about mathematics by the general public? 

A: I think a lot of the general public believes that there are two kinds of people: either you’re a “math person” or you’re not. I think that the most important part about learning math is understanding the logic behind all of the steps, and when people say they’re “not math people,” it’s because they memorized processes but never understood why all the steps worked. I think that a lot of peoples’ views on math depends on their teachers, and I think more people should view math as an endeavor in logic and understanding rather than replicating a set of steps given by the instructor. There is no such thing as “not a math person”; there are just people who haven’t yet had the opportunity to see math as something exciting or beautiful.

Q: Have you been involved in research at ASU? 

A: I am completing a Barrett honors thesis advised by Dr. Clare Carrasco; my thesis is titled “The Development of Story-Based Show Design in Modern Drum Corps.” Drum corps show design is a very under-researched topic within music history; the most recent academic publication was written in 2016, regarding shows performed through 2012. In my research, I not only tracked the development of show design with elements of storytelling (including drill design, music choice, use of electronics and audio sampling, choreography, acting and props), but also defined two new eras of show design (for the years that have thus far gone unresearched).

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time (when not studying or doing school related tasks)? 

A: In my spare time, I really enjoy reading; lately, I’ve really enjoyed the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson. I also enjoy playing board games, D&D and Magic the Gathering with my friends.

Q: What are your favorite memories of your time in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences?

A: I think one of my favorite memories from my time in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences was getting an email from my MAT 371 professor (Dr. Kawski) that I had done so well on an exam in his class that he wanted to tell me specifically. MAT 371 did not come easily to me at all, and it took a huge amount of work for me to get through the homework problem set each week. I had studied so much for that exam, so hearing that I did that well made me incredibly happy.

My other favorite memory from my time in the SoMSS came from my combinatorics class with Dr. Fishel. There was one problem on one homework set that I couldn’t quite get; it was about finding a recurrence relation for Catalan paths. The relationship was given in the problem, we only had to prove it, and I’d spent over an hour on this one problem trying to understand what I was miscalculating. 

When I went to Dr. Fishel’s office hours to ask about the problem, she gave me a tiny hint and it all clicked into place — I was in her office for less than 30 seconds and I understood what I had been missing, despite having spent an hour on the one problem beforehand. When I expressed my exasperation at that, she told me I wouldn’t have understood it so quickly if I hadn’t spent so long trying to understand it on my own first. The sense of understanding for that problem was so visceral and gratifying. Additionally, the lesson that sometimes sitting with a problem and thinking through it every possible way is actually helpful is one I have taken with me into future classes.