The Department of Mathematics is pleased to recognize former Ohio State faculty member Facundo Mémoli and Ohio State mathematics alumnus Mario Gómez Flores for receiving a 2025 Paul R. Halmos-Lester R. Ford Award from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). The award recognizes exceptional expository papers published in The American Mathematical Monthly. Read the full story.

Mémoli and Gómez Flores were honored for their article,"The Four Point Condition: An Elementary Tropicalization of Ptolemy's Inequality," published in 2024. In the paper, the authors explore connections between Ptolemy's inequality, a geometric result dating back to ancient Greece, and the four-point condition, a modern concept used to characterize tree-like metric spaces. 

The award also highlights the accomplishments of two members of the Ohio State mathematics community. Gómez Flores, now an Ohio State alumnus, earned his PhD in mathematics in Summer 2023 under the supervision of Mémoli, who served on the department's faculty until January 2025. Their award-winning work reflects a shared commitment not only to mathematical discovery but also to communicating advanced ideas in a clear and accessible way.

According to the MAA, the Paul R. Halmos-Lester R. Ford Awards recognize authors whose writing demonstrates outstanding exposition and helps make sophisticated mathematical ideas accessible to a broad audience.