Coastal Carolina University will host the 40th annual Dr. Subhash Saxena High School Math Contest on Friday, March 8, from 9:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Coastal Theater located in the Lib Jackson Student Union. The purpose of this event is to stimulate and promote interest in mathematics among high school students. Twenty South Carolina high schools will compete for awards, prizes and scholarships in two levels of competition.

The following high schools will participate: A.C. Flora, Columbia; Academic Magnet, North Charleston; Ben Lippen, Columbia; Bishop England, Charleston; Carolina Forest; Carvers Bay, Hemingway; Early College, Conway; Georgetown; Green Sea Floyds; Hammond School, Columbia; Johnsonville; Lake View; Mullins; Scholars Academy, Conway; SC Governor's School for Science and Mathematics, Hartsville; South Florence; Spring Valley, Columbia; Williamsburg Academy, Kingstree; Williston-Elko; and Wilson, Florence.

Coastal Carolina University offers a Coastal Scholars Award to the highest scoring Horry County senior on the Level II test. The Level II test is an assessment of junior and senior students who have taken algebra I and II and geometry.

In addition to the competitions, Coastal Carolina University professor Siming Guo, Ph.D., will give a presentation on sustainable energy. Guo, a professor in the Department of Physics and Engineering Science, earned his master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Tara Craig will be presenting the "Afternoon Brainteaser" activity. Craig, an assistant professor of mathematics at CCU, earned her master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Texas.

Saxena, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, endowed the fund for the annual math contest. He taught mathematics at CCU from 1973 until his retirement in 2001, serving as department chair from 1987-1993.

The first High School Math Contest was held in 1979 and had more than 100 student participants. Over the past few years, the contest has attracted thousands of students from across the state of South Carolina. AC Flora High School won the 2018 contest.

For more information, contact Mary Wilkerson, Ph.D. at 843-349-4074 or visit the math contest site.