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Solomon Golomb

Solomon W. Golomb
Solomon Golomb 2014.jpg
2014 studio portrait
Born Solomon Wolf Golomb
(1932-05-30)May 30, 1932
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died May 1, 2016(2016-05-01) (aged 83)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality American
Fields Mathematics, engineering
Institutions University of Southern California
Alma mater Harvard University
Doctoral advisor David Widder
Doctoral students Hal Fredricksen, Christopher Wayne Walker, Sina Aboutorabi
Notable awards Claude E. Shannon Award (1985)
IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal (2000)
National Medal of Science (2011)

Solomon Wolf Golomb (May 30, 1932 – May 1, 2016) was an American mathematician, engineer, and professor of electrical engineering at the University of Southern California, best known for his works on mathematical games. Most notably, he invented Cheskers in 1948 and coined the name. He also fully described polyominoes and pentominoes in 1953. He specialized in problems of combinatorial analysis, number theory, coding theory, and communications. His game of pentomino inspired Tetris.

Golomb, a graduate of the Baltimore City College high school, received his bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University and master's and doctorate degree in mathematics from Harvard University in 1957 with a dissertation on "Problems in the Distribution of the Prime Numbers".

While working at the Glenn L. Martin Company he became interested in communications theory and began his work on shift register sequences. He spent his Fulbright year at the University of Oslo and then joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech, where he researched military and space communications. He joined the faculty of USC in 1963 and was awarded full tenure two years later.


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