‘Inside UVA’: Meet Super Bowl Ad Star and Math Expert in New Ryan Podcast
Audio: ‘Inside UVA’ with Ken Ono, the Thomas Jefferson Professor of Mathematics and chair of the College of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Mathematics.(17:06)
Ono wants to be remembered for his scholarship.
If the name Ken Ono is familiar to you, it may be because he starred in a Super Bowl week commercial this past winter.
A world expert in number theory, the Thomas Jefferson Professor of Mathematics and chair of the College of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Mathematics was tapped to appear in a new Miller64 beer commercial that began running in the week leading up to the Super Bowl.
Now, Ono is the star of another program – UVA President Jim Ryan’s podcast, Inside UVA.
In the latest episode, the two discuss Ono’s gift for math, his teaching and another surprising role of his: using mathematical theory to help coach UVA’s swim team.
Ono said while those experiences were incredible, he does not want them to be his legacy.
“I want to be remembered primarily as a scientist,” he told Ryan. “I’m a mathematician, and as we like to say in mathematics, math is everywhere around us.”
To learn more about Ono’s love of numbers, research and teaching, you can listen to the 19th episode of Inside UVA on most podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.
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Article Information
October 8, 2024