Elwyn Berlekamp | |
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Born | Elwyn Ralph Berlekamp September 6, 1940 Dover, Ohio |
Nationality | American |
Fields | Information theory, Coding theory, Combinatorial game theory |
Institutions | University of California, Berkeley |
Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Doctoral advisor | Robert G. Gallager |
Notable students |
Ken Thompson Aaron N. Siegel David Wolfe |
Known for | Berlekamp's algorithm, Berlekamp-Welch algorithm, Berlekamp–Massey algorithm, Coupon Go |
Notable awards |
IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal (1991) Claude E. Shannon Award (1993) |
Elwyn Ralph Berlekamp (born September 6, 1940) is an American mathematician. He is a professor emeritus of mathematics and EECS at the University of California, Berkeley. Berlekamp is known for his work in coding theory and combinatorial game theory.
Berlekamp was born in Dover, Ohio. His family moved to Northern Kentucky, where Berlekamp graduated from Ft. Thomas Highlands high school in Ft. Thomas, Campbell county, Kentucky. While an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he was a Putnam Fellow in 1961. He completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering in 1962. Continuing his studies at MIT, he finished his Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1964; his advisors were Robert G. Gallager, Peter Elias, Claude Shannon, and John Wozencraft. Berlekamp taught electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley from 1964 until 1966, when he became a mathematics researcher at Bell Labs. In 1971, Berlekamp returned to Berkeley as professor of mathematics and EECS, where he served as the advisor for over twenty doctoral students. He is now professor emeritus.
He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (1977) and the National Academy of Sciences (1999). He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996, and became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2012. In 1991, he received the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal, and in 1993, the Claude E. Shannon Award. In 1998, he received a Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation from the IEEE Information Theory Society. He is on the board of directors of Gathering 4 Gardner.