Ralph E. Gomory

Ralph E. Gomory ( born May 7, 1929 in Brooklyn Heights, New York City ) is an American computer scientist and applied mathematician and research manager.

Training

Gomory studied at Williams College with a bachelor 's degree in 1950, studied at Cambridge and in 1954 received his doctorate at Princeton University under Solomon Lefschetz (Critical points at infinity and forced oscillations ). From 1954 to 1957 he served in the U.S. Navy. 1957 to 1959 he was Higgins Lecturer and Assistant Professor at Princeton.

IBM

In 1959 he went to the then newly founded research division of IBM. In 1964, he was IBM Fellow, from 1965 he headed the mathematical research at IBM and in 1970 he became Director of Research. In 1973, he became vice president of IBM and 1985 Senior Vice President for Science and Technology. In his 18 years as director of research from IBM the basics of RISC technology were placed on the Thomas J. Watson Research Center, performed at the Research Center in San Jose the basics of relational databases and the Zurich research work that led to two Nobel Prizes ( scanning tunneling microscope by Gerd Binnig, Heinrich Rohrer, high-temperature superconductors of Johannes Georg Bednorz, Karl Alexander Müller).

Sloan Foundation and thereafter

In 1989, he was at IBM in retirement and became President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which he remained until 2007. After that he went as a professor at New York University ( Stern School of Business).

In his time as head of the Sloan Foundation, this was a pioneer in the field of online learning in the U.S. ( even before the rise of the Internet), supported scientists from minority groups and began a series of industry studies. In his time also fell participation in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and inventory of marine life ( Census of Marine Life).

Work as a mathematician

As a mathematician Gomory dealt first with non-linear differential equations. In his time at Princeton, he was - inspired by his time in the U.S. Navy, where he joined the Operations Research turned to - a pioneer of Integer Programming with the development of a general purpose cutting plane method (1958). While at IBM, he published with Paul Gilmore on the one-dimensional cutting problem (English cutting stock problem), the problem of the traveling salesman and the knapsack problem and TC Hu on network flows. In the late 1960s he investigated the asymptotic theory of integer programming, and introduced Corner Polyhedra. In the 1970s he studied with Ellis Johnson subadditive functions that can be useful for the introduction of cutting planes in integer programming related to Corner Polyhedra and.

Prices, honors, memberships

In 1963 he received the Frederick W. Lanchester - Prize, 1993 Arthur M. Bueche Award of the National Academy of Engineering and in 1984 the John von Neumann Theory Prize. In 1988 he received the National Medal of Science. He is eight honorary doctorates.

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Engineering and an honorary member of the IEEE.

Others

He was a trustee of Princeton University from 1985 to 1989 and at Hampshire College in 1977 until 1986. 1984 to 1992 and 2001 to 2009 he was an adviser to the U.S. President for Science and Technology ( PCAST ​​). He is a member of the National Academies Board on Science Technology and Economic Policy (STEP).

He was director of the Washington Post Company, The Bank of New York and Lexmark.

Gomory is divorced and has three children.

Writings

• William J. Baumol with: Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests. MIT Press, 2001.