Faculty Lecture Series
"The Mathematics of Electing a President: Some Striking Observations of How America Elects Its Presidents"
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Nathan P. Ritchey, Ph.D.
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Thursday Oct. 20, 2017
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7 p.m.
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Main Hall Auditorium
Nathan P. Ritchey, Ph.D., Vice President for System Integration and Interim Dean for the Regional Colleges at Kent State University, will present “Mathematics of Electing a President: Some Striking Observations of How America Elects Its Presidents” at Kent State University at Ashtabula Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. in the Main Hall Auditorium. The program, which is part of the Kent State Ashtabula Faculty Lecture Series, is free and open to the public.
Ritchey will discuss utilizing some basic mathematics to investigate the election process that will be used in the coming weeks to determine our next president.
For many, it may be surprising to learn that citizens of the United States of America do not have the right to vote directly for a candidate in a presidential election. In fact, four times in the history of this country, the elected president did not receive a majority of the popular vote. By developing a mathematical context for this process, it is possible to make some interesting observations regarding the upcoming election. For example, it is possible for as little as twenty percent of the popular vote to elect a president and that a tie is actually possible.
Ritchey’s areas of expertise include university accreditation, general education, STEM education, developing talent, honors programming, operations research/management science, mathematical modeling and assessment. He has authored numerous articles and co-authored several mathematics textbooks. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, a Master of Science in applied mathematics and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.