Undergraduate education rooted in a passion for exploration pays dividends. Just ask Ben Lyons, a 2025 math and physics alumnus.
Lyons began his doctoral math studies several steps beyond entry level, allowing him to test out of two basic courses before classes even started. And for that, he credits Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Lyons, who has a fascination for math—and the math behind physics concepts—joined several like-minded students in requesting a class on general relativity that wasn’t in the Rose-Hulman course catalog. David Finn, PhD, associate professor of mathematics, stepped up to feed the students’ curiosity, offering an additional class focused on the math behind phenomena like black holes and gravity.
With that class and other specially offered courses like it, Lyons felt empowered to uncover new angles for studying math and physics, and then dig into those concepts as deeply as he wanted.
“I already had a graduate-level understanding of the material,” he said of his knowledge following those undergraduate classes.
Lyons says faculty willingness to go above and beyond to encourage students’ interests, meeting each of them where they are in their knowledge and then tailoring instruction and guidance, accordingly, is a critical component of the Rose-Hulman experience.
“Every professor I had at Rose was a good teacher,” said Lyons. “I learned really well from every single one of them. They’d sort of build the class around the audience.”
Lyons’ doctoral work at the University of Texas calls for him to teach, and he draws on the passion and skill he observed from his Rose-Hulman professors when interacting with his own students. That commitment to his craft—and the problem-solving it requires—also will be vital as he pursues a career in math research.
“Being a math researcher requires you to be very self-driven,” he said. “You have to make sure you’re making progress, and the best way to do that is to be passionate about what you’re studying.
“I actually want to figure out the answers to problems; not just for the sake of doing this part of my job but because it’s something I’m curious about.”