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The fifth Faculty Pub Night of the 2026-27 season features Alissa Crans, professor of mathematics, statistics, and data science (Seaver College of Science and Engineering). She will discuss her recent publication, "The Mathematical Playground: People and Problems from 31 Years of Math Horizons."

About Faculty Pub Night

Students, staff, faculty, alumni, and members of the public are all invited to the 2026-27 series of Faculty Pub Night at the William H. Hannon Library. Eight LMU professors are selected annually to discuss their latest publication or project in a comfortable setting and format that welcomes diverse perspectives for an inclusive conversation aimed to educate the entire community. All Faculty Pub Nights are free and open to the public.

About the Author's Work

Have you ever noticed that 31 is a pretty interesting number? Not only is it a prime number, it is one less than a power of two. The nearest numbers with these properties are 7 and 127, and each of 27 - 1, 231 - 1, and 2127 - 1 are also prime. Even better, the sum of all the odd primes less than 31 is 127. This sort of number play animates the 127 problems curated to celebrate 31 years and 7 editors of The Playground, the problems column from the Mathematical Association of America’s undergraduate magazine, Math Horizons.

Together, we’ll become a part of The Playground family, which includes a broad spectrum of math aficionados from renowned professionals to lifelong amateurs. We’ll interactively explore the rich culture of the recreational problem-solving community, which has engaged elementary school students and inspired incarcerated learners on their path toward their own refereed research publications. What draws these individuals in? Why do they continue to be excited by each new crop of questions in
their favorite column? We’ll cap off the evening by attempting to collectively create a new problem to submit to The Playground!

About the Author

Alissa S. Crans has been recognized nationally for her enthusiastic ability to share and communicate mathematics.  She generates excitement about math in settings that range from public libraries and Nerd Nite Los Angeles to the National Math Festival and the National Museum of Mathematics.  Her research lies in the field of higher-dimensional algebra and has been supported by the National Security Agency and the Simons Foundation.  Alissa is also known for her dedication to broadening participation in mathematics through her active mentoring and supporting of women, underrepresented students, and junior faculty.  Outside of math, you can find her working with Guide Dogs of America, running along the Venice Beach boardwalk, or on her quest to find the spiciest salsa on the Westside.

Visit the author's wesbite.

About the William H. Hannon Library

The William H. Hannon Library fosters excellence in academic achievement through an array of distinctive services that enable learners to feed their curiosity, experience new worlds, develop their ideas, inform their decision-making, and inspire others. More information can be found at http://library.lmu.edu

For more information about this event, contact the Outreach and Engagement team at the William H. Hannon library via email at library.outreach@lmu.edu or call 310-338-5234.