John Urschel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Urschel
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Urschel with the Baltimore Ravens in 2015
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| Born | June 24, 1991 |
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| Scientific career | |||||
| Fields | Mathematics | ||||
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| Thesis | Graphs, Principal Minors, and Eigenvalue Problems (2021) | ||||
| Doctoral advisor | Michel Goemans | ||||
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Football career |
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| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 300 lb (136 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | Canisius (Buffalo, New York) | ||||
| College: | Penn State | ||||
| NFL Draft: | 2014 / Round: 5 / Pick: 175 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||
John Cameron Urschel Jr., born on June 24, 1991, is a Canadian mathematician and a former professional football player. He played as a guard for the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL. Urschel is known for his unique career, balancing professional sports with advanced studies in mathematics.
He earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics from Pennsylvania State University. Later, he completed his PhD in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After playing three seasons with the Ravens, Urschel retired from football in July 2017. Today, he is an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics at MIT. He also writes about advanced statistics for The Players' Tribune.
Contents
Early Life and Education
John Urschel was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He grew up in Buffalo, New York, where he graduated from Canisius High School in 2009. His father was a surgeon, and his mother was an attorney.
Urschel attended Pennsylvania State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 2012. He then completed a master's degree in mathematics in 2013. While at Penn State, he received the William V. Campbell Trophy. This award is often called the "academic Heisman" because it recognizes top football players for their academic achievements, leadership, and community service. In 2021, he earned his PhD in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Professional Football Career
The Baltimore Ravens selected John Urschel in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL draft. During his first season in 2014, he played in 11 games and started three of them. In 2015, he played in all 16 games for the Ravens, starting seven. His final season was in 2016, where he played in 13 games and started three.
On July 27, 2017, Urschel announced his retirement from the NFL after three seasons. He stated that concerns about long-term brain health were a factor in his decision. He explained that he loved football and his experiences, but he also had serious concerns about the impact of the sport on his health.
Even after retiring as a player, Urschel remained involved in football. In January 2020, he was appointed to the College Football Playoff selection committee. He served a three-year term on this committee, which helps choose the teams for the college football playoffs.
Mathematics Career
While studying for his master's degree at Penn State, Urschel also taught several math courses. These included vector calculus, trigonometry, and an introduction to econometrics. In 2014, he was recognized as an Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar.
In 2015, Urschel co-authored a scientific paper published in the Journal of Computational Mathematics. This paper discussed a new method for computing something called the "Fiedler vector" for graph Laplacians. This is a complex topic in mathematics that helps understand the structure of networks.
Urschel started his PhD in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2016. His studies focused on areas like spectral graph theory, numerical linear algebra, and machine learning. MIT requires PhD students to study full-time. After retiring from the Ravens, Urschel shared that he was a full-time graduate student while still playing football. He took classes through correspondence between games and practices.
In January 2017, Forbes magazine included Urschel on its "30 Under 30" list for outstanding young scientists. The magazine noted that he had already published several peer-reviewed math papers and won academic awards for his math skills, all while playing in the NFL.
Since 2017, Urschel has had an Erdős number of 4. An Erdős number measures how "connected" a mathematician is to the famous mathematician Paul Erdős through co-authored papers. His PhD thesis, titled Graphs, Principal Minors, and Eigenvalue Problems, was completed in 2021 at MIT. He was also a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. In the fall of 2023, Urschel became an assistant professor in the MIT Math department.
Awards and Honors
- 2009: Mr. Canisius
- 2013: Senior CLASS Award
- 2016–2018: Dean of Science Fellowship
- 2017: Forbes's "30 Under 30" list in science
- 2024: Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, Dartmouth College
Chess
John Urschel also enjoys playing chess. He competed in the 2015 Pittsburgh Open chess tournament. He finished in 12th place in his rating section. Urschel plays competitive online chess on Chess.com. He has also provided commentary for Chess.com's BlitzChamps event, which is a rapid chess tournament for NFL players.
Personal Life
John Urschel is married to writer Louisa Thomas. They first met when she was writing an article about him. They have two children together. In 2019, Urschel published his autobiography, Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football, which he co-wrote with his wife.
See also
- Frank Ryan – another former NFL player who also had a career as a mathematician.
