In fact, I’d go on later and say that is that’s the exact wrong thing to do.

One shouldn’t just like things because they are easy.

I always, I guess, happened to find the math less challenging but that’s not a good reason to like math. VR : So you thought that other subjects were more challenging! So in other words, the different subjects that one learns in school like writing, reading like history. I think it was just that other subjects were more challenging. But, I’ll say that at that age when I was in elementary school it wasn’t really that I thought I was really interested in math. My mother would teach interesting ways to do quantitative things like multiply, some basic algebra. I mean, in some sense, I guess, I started looking at mathematics ever since I was very small. VR : So how did you get interested in math? When did you know it was going to be mathematics? In that sense, it is the success of the whole team. VR : We all know that you are also part of your team. PSL : I would pass that to the team definitely. VR : We congratulate you on behalf of CMI for your success at the IMO this year, your team’s success. It was really inspiring and at the same, very informative. : We have with us Professor Po-Shen Loh from Carnegie Mellon University. What follows is a written transcript of the interview. The interview team, other than myself, consisted of Varun Ramanathan(interviewer), Anish Sevekari(co-ordinator), Rebhu Johymalyo Josh(camera person) and Pranav V. Po visited the Chennai Mathematical Institute on November 16th, 2015, wherein we had the chance to ask him some questions. In this capacity he was the leader of the US International Mathematical Olympiad team, 2015 which was ranked the number one team. He is the founder of Expii which “is a free interactive website, focused on math and science, where students, teachers, tutors, and enthusiasts are encouraged to add their voices and teaching styles to the canon of lessons that are hosted on the site.” He is also very actively involved in olympiad activities. He specializes in probabilistic and extremal combinatorics.

Po-Shen Loh is an associate professor of mathematics at the Carnegie Mellon University. Institutes Offering Mathematics Courses in India.Mathematical Societies in Asia Pacific Region.

Po shen loh