Prize Recipient

Brendon Sullivan

Background:

My name is Brendon Sullivan and I live in Salem Massachusetts with my parents and younger sister.  This past June, I graduated from Phillips Academy Andover, and will matriculate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall.

The beauty of nature and abstract elegance of mathematics has fascinated me for as long as I can remember.  My passion for physics evolved out of the disciplines use of mathematics to describe the universe.  In high school, I marveled as what I learned in math class was used to derive the complex motions and properties of objects from simple scientifically determined principles and assumptions. I am delighted in the weird results and un-intuitive predictions that one can find when applying the laws of physics in unfamiliar contexts.  Physics and mathematics have both had a profound influence on the way I think; therefore I plan to pursue a double major in these subjects in college, and to continue studying physics in graduate school.

Beyond the classroom, I swim competitively, an activity I will continue at MIT.  I also enjoy playing basketball, chess, ultimate frisbee, and sailing.  During my last three years of high school, I was a peer tutor in mathematics and science.  Additionally, I volunteered at a nearby grammar school instructing fifth graders about basic scientific principals.  I enjoy helping others master the sciences, especially physics and mathematics, and ultimately plan to pursue a career as a college professor.