David William Matula (born 1937) is an American mathematician and computer scientist known for his research on

graph theory In mathematics and computer science, graph theory is the study of ''graph (discrete mathematics), graphs'', which are mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects. A graph in this context is made up of ''Vertex (graph ...

graph algorithm An algorithm is fundamentally a set of rules or defined procedures that is typically designed and used to solve a specific problem or a broad set of problems. Broadly, algorithms define process(es), sets of rules, or methodologies that are to be f ...

computer arithmetic Computer arithmetic is the scientific field that deals with representation of numbers on computers and corresponding implementations of the arithmetic operations. It includes: *Fixed-point arithmetic *Floating-point arithmetic *Interval arithmet ...

, and

algorithm engineering Algorithm engineering focuses on the design, analysis, implementation, optimization, profiling and experimental evaluation of computer algorithms, bridging the gap between algorithmics theory and practical applications of algorithms in software engi ...

. He is a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

, where he formerly held the Cruse C. and Marjorie F. Calahan Centennial Chair in Engineering.

Education and career

Matula was an undergraduate in Engineering physics at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, graduating in 1959. He completed his Ph.D. in 1966 at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, with the dissertation ''Games of Sequence Prediction'' supervised by

David Blackwell David Harold Blackwell (April 24, 1919 – July 8, 2010) was an American statistician and mathematician who made significant contributions to game theory, probability theory, information theory, and statistics. He is one of the eponyms of the ...

. After completing his Ph.D., he returned to Washington University in St. Louis as a faculty member. He joined the Southern Methodist University faculty in 1974 as chair of the Computer Science and Engineering Department, was named to the Cruse C. and Marjorie F. Calahan Centennial Chair in Engineering in 2016, and retired in 2018.

Book

Matula is the coauthor, with Peter Kornerup, of the book ''Finite Precision Number Systems and Arithmetic'' (Encyclopedia of Mathematics and its Applications 133, Cambridge University Press, 2010).

References

External links

Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matula, David 1937 births Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Graph theorists American computer scientists McKelvey School of Engineering alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Washington University in St. Louis faculty Southern Methodist University faculty