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Dave Kung

@dtkung.bsky.social

1K followers 600 following 420 posts

Mathematician, policy wonk, joyful conspirator, violinist, runner. Exec. Dir. at TPSE Math & Independent math ed consultant after stints for UT Dana Center, MAA, SMCM, Fudan U., Lingnan U. & the Great Courses. Part of the exhausted resistance.

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Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 4h

Just a friendly reminder that vaccines work - they teach the body how to respond to COVID. Who wouldn't want that?

www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-...

Annual COVID Vaccines Save Lives, New Study Shows

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

www.scientificamerican.com

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 13h

Always fun to see the amazing people who win. Congrats to mathematician Lauren Williams on winning a MacArther genius grant!

www.macfound.org/fellows/clas...

Lauren K. Williams

Uncovering transformative connections between algebraic combinatorics and problems in other areas of math and physics.

www.macfound.org

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 2d

I'd never dived into the BPS survey. Yes, the cross tabs would be interesting.

Here's more on the survey itself:

nces.ed.gov/statprog/han....

NCES Handbook of Survey Methods - Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) Longitudinal Study

Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) Longitudinal Study is designed specifically to collect data related to persistence in and completion of postsecondary education programs; relationships between w...

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 4d

Maybe call up your troops ... to Texas?

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 4d

... and I forgot to add a link to the second paper:
scholarship.libraries.rutgers.edu/esploro/outp...

Research Portal

scholarship.libraries.rutgers.edu

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 6d

(This paper was hard to find for me because I'd forgotten the gender-focus - the title of the paper didn't suggest why the data contained in it were interesting to me.)

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 6d

Important note on that last table: the "Total credits earned (millions)" column should be labeled "Total math credits earned". Just noting this (esp. for @drew-lewis.com) because I initially thought that column could serve as a denominator to get the stat desired (what % of all credits are in math).

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 6d

The paper I was recalling used NCES transcript data for BA/BS recipients. It looks at who is taking math, how much, and what kind. (I *think* you could use it to get what % of all credits are earned in math.)

Takeaway: non-STEM students generate 67% of math credits earned. Math/stat majors: 5%.

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 6d

Main point: the revenue-generating part of every four-year math department is intro math. About half is pre Calculus. Courses above Calc are something like 8%.

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 6d

OK, found what I was looking for. @drew-lewis.com - it's not exactly what you want. Putting a bunch of things here - as much for my aging brain as anything else.

As mentioned CBMS surveys have lots of data - the total number of enrollments (but not credits).
www.ams.org/learning-car...

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 6d

Dave Kung, mathematician without borders

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 6d

Not ignoring this. Just waiting for my aging brain to remember the citation...

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 7d

Love this!

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 7d

New York City, I can see a future with you. And it’s one we can afford.

Our new ad just aired during The Golden Bachelor.

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 16d

What does this image have to do with math education? There's huge benefit in concentrating on what we don't see. Who are the students who aren't in our classes - who didn't make it through to our part of the math education system?

Read my latest MAA blog:
maa.org/math-values/...

Red bullet holes in a drawing of a World War II plane. Some areas have a lot of bullets but others (including the engines and cockpit) have none.

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 16d

Congrats!

Reposted by Dave Kung

Chad Topaz Queer DEI Race Traitor @chadtopaz.bsky.social · 16d

📖❤️ NEWS: You can now pre-order my book! "Unlocking Justice confronts America’s unfair legal system with data—and humanity." It's accessible, optimistic, and in the spirit of Ida B. Wells, who said “the way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” I wrote it for each of you. Also, ⬇️

Unlocking Justice: The Power of Data to Confront Inequity and Create Change|Hardcover

www.barnesandnoble.com

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 16d

Grrrr. How is it you took dhoti yesterday but not backbeat?!? @beemoan.bsky.social

NYTimes spelling bee doesn't take backbeat.

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 19d

Oh, I love the logic of this. Why are you eligible for the Covid shot? Because the underlying condition you have....is that you haven't gotten that shot.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 19d

I like this. Since under RFK Jr, Covid shots are now for people with underlying conditions that put them at risk, Michigan’s chief medical executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian states that not having the most recent Covid shot constitutes such an underlying condition.

www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/inside...

In her recommendation, Bagdasarian stated,
"Any person over the age of six months without contraindication who has not received a dose of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved or-authorized 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine may be considered to have an underlying condition that puts them at high risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19 and is thus eligible to receive an age-appropriate dose."

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 21d

Looking for a job? Know someone who is? TPSE has a half-time admin spot open. It's fully remote, pretty flexible, includes BENEFITS - and you'd get to work with a fun bunch of math people.

Circulate widely - esp. to any of the 100's of dedicated former fed workers.

www.indeed.com/job/administ...

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 24d

Morning shock: Olympic 1500 champ champ Cole Hocker DQ'd for jostling at the World Champs.
x.com/letsrundotco...

LetsRun.com on X: "Cole Hocker has been DQd ? US is appealing What do you think? Discuss: https://t.co/EfSCNLj9IO https://t.co/L13zYiZVAC" / X

Cole Hocker has been DQd ? US is appealing What do you think? Discuss: https://t.co/EfSCNLj9IO https://t.co/L13zYiZVAC

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 27d

Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle in a (math-themed) revival of Proof? Sign me up - can't wait!

playbill.com/article/ayo-...

Ayo Edebiri, Don Cheadle To Star in Broadway Revival of Proof

This will be the first revival David Auburn's Tony- and Pulitzer-winning play.

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · Sep 6

And after going 0-18, Anisimova wins her first game in a Slam final!

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · Sep 6

What can math teach us about equity? What do metric spaces have to do with righting past injustices - and dare we say DEI?
@dreugeniacheng.bsky.social brings her usual brilliant take and excellent writing:

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/o...

Opinion | What I Got Wrong About D.E.I.

www.nytimes.com

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · Sep 6

Felix's reactions were so refreshing and genuine. Really wish he had at least pushed it to a fifth set. He had the chances.

Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · Sep 4

Our tax money was used to threaten Gambian leaders into signing a contract with Elon's Starlink. Want to know why Musk threw his weight (and $$$) behind the Orange one? It was all about the $$. No democratic admin would have been so corrupt.

ProPublica @propublica.org · Sep 4

“If this was done by another country, we absolutely would call this corruption,” said Kristofer Harrison, who served as a high-level State Department official in the George W. Bush administration. “Because it is corruption.”

(Published May)

The Trump Administration Leaned on African Countries. The Goal: Get Business for Elon Musk.

The State Department has intervened on behalf of Musk’s satellite internet company in five developing nations. In Gambia, U.S. diplomats have lobbied and browbeat at least seven government ministers a...

www.propublica.org