-plans pursuing his doctorate in the subject 
PATTERNS fascinate senior mathematics major, Kelly Toppin. And he loves looking for them.
Kelly realized he liked math when he was seven years old. It was then his class took wholes and divided them into pieces — patterns. “Since then, I have spent countless hours looking for patterns in almost everything I have encountered.”
According to his professors, Kelly is outstanding in this aspect of math. What sets him apart, besides this ability to discern patterns, is the concentration he brings to the subject.
While his professors speak highly of how he excels in mathematics, Kelly has a different take. “I am not really good at mathematics; I consider myself to be average…”
Lenny Jones, professor of mathematics, would disagree. Kelly has been working with him to resolve three open questions. “The problems are in finite group theory, which is part of algebra, but the solutions use number theory,” Lenny said. “We have completely resolved one of the three questions, and have made significant progress toward the resolution of the remaining two.”
The findings were so strong, Kelly presented them at the annual joint meetings of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematics Association of America, which were held in San Francisco.
There is no ‘real’ world application for this research — at least not yet. “Of course, it can (and does) happen that what appears to have no application at this time can have far-reaching applications in the future,” Lenny said. “Certain number theory developed hundreds of years ago now has applications to encryption algorithms for the security of transmissions over the Internet.”
Kelly’s service in the U.S. Marine Corps taught him self-discipline and hard work — important traits for “the successful study of mathematics,” he said. “The challenge mathematics presents is what interests me the most. It is hard, but very rewarding and intensely enjoyable.”
He will continue this enjoyable experience when he starts his Ph.D. program this fall. Kelly was looking for a school located in an urban environment with a good program that was rather small. For him, Drexel University, located in Philadelphia, fits the bill.
What appeals the most to Kelly about pursuing his doctorate is doing “deep work in some technical area. This will provide me an opportunity to eventually create (or discover) new mathematics.
“The greatest accomplishment would be to show the beauty of mathematics to a young person, and help develop his/her love of mathematics like my Shippensburg professors did with me.” (Reprinted from the Spring 2010 edition of SHIP, a publication of  Pennsylvania’s University of Shippenburg)

Hometown: Harrisburg and Georgetown, Guyana

Major: Mathematics and Physics

Future plans: Graduate school

Campus activities: Mathematics, Rotaract Club, Society of Industrial and Applied Math, Kappa Mu Epsilon, Physics Club, Kappa Sigma, Sigma Pi Sigma, math department tutor, and the College of Arts and Sciences Student Advisory Board.
Hobbies and interests: Soccer, cricket, fine wines, and running.