On Thursday, April 2nd, the Mahurin Honors College (MHC) community gathered together for a night of celebration. Alongside dinner and remarks from director Dr. Lindy Davidson, the MHC sought to recognize the faculty and students that are dedicated to service, leadership, creativity, and innovation.
In particular, two mathematics individuals received recognition.
Honors Teaching Award for Honors Embedded Sections: Dr. Ferhan Atici recognized for their commitment to teaching honors embedded sections of courses.
Thesis of the Year: Emma Bunch was honored for her innovative research that applied pure math to medicine; a project that was inspired by her pending patent on similar processess. Emma had this to say about her project and this honor:
“My experience completing a mathematics honors thesis at Western Kentucky University was one that both challenged me and allowed me to grow as a researcher. Under the guidance of Dr. Tilak Bhattacharya (chair of my thesis committee), Dr. Molly Dunkum (second reader), and Dr. Lan Nguyen (third reader), I contributed original research to the field of hyperbolic geometry and complex analysis. In my thesis, I examined the relationship between Möbius transformations and hyperbolic geometry in the upper half-plane, a model for hyperbolic geometry. I did so by covering several preliminaries, examining properties of Möbius transformations and cross-ratios, exploring the Poincaré metric and invariance of hyperbolic distance under Möbius transformations, and proving an analog of the Pythagoras theorem in hyperbolic space.
“The research process began with brainstorming meetings with Dr. Bhattacharya and Dr. Dunkum in the fall of 2024. I wanted to explore Möbius transformations and hyperbolic geometry because of independent reading I had completed and their seeming connection with quantum computation. Once we settled in on a plan, Dr. Bhattacharya provided lectures, beginning in the spring, that covered content I needed to know to complete exercises he proposed. These formed the overall structure of my thesis.
“As time went on, Dr. Bhattacharya and I worked together on exercises and proofs and formed a cohesive narrative on Möbius transformations, hyperbolic geometry, and how they were related. Beginning in the fall of 2025, we began to focus on the writing and went through many edits to create the polished version of the thesis available on TopScholar. We bulked up much of the content, combed through proofs and exercises, and ensured the thesis was the best quality it could be. I then formed my slides and defended my thesis in November of 2025, passing with honors. I am also elated to have been recently awarded the Thesis of the Year by the Mahurin Honors College, and it warms my heart to have my efforts recognized in that way.
“I had never conducted pure mathematical research before, which was a very different experience from applied projects I had completed in the past, mainly centering on cancer. It challenged my critical and logical thinking at a different angle (pun intended) and allowed me to improve my mathematical and scientific writing skills. Though I won’t be continuing in pure mathematics, the skills I gained in the process will undoubtedly serve me well as I complete other STEM research efforts.
“In the future, I plan to obtain my Ph.D. and pursue a career in cancer research, something I have wanted to do since I was nine years old. I particularly have a desire to develop novel immunotherapies and have chosen to dedicate my life to the service of others and my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I chose a degree in mathematics not only because of my experiences in high school with computational research and coursework but to gain a mathematical insight to the problems I cared about.
“Thank you to Western Kentucky University, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, and Mahurin Honors College for allowing me to obtain my bachelor’s degree and complete this research. I am forever grateful. Go Tops!”
Read the full article about the event here: https://www.wku.edu/honors/news/index.php?view=article&articleid=13009
