Jacob Ziv (; 27 November 1931 – 25 March 2023) was an Israeli

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and information theorist who developed the LZ family of

lossless data compression Lossless compression is a class of data compression that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data with no loss of information. Lossless compression is possible because most real-world data exhibits Redundanc ...

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

s alongside Abraham Lempel. He is also a namesake of the Ziv–Zakai bound in

estimation theory Estimation theory is a branch of statistics that deals with estimating the values of Statistical parameter, parameters based on measured empirical data that has a random component. The parameters describe an underlying physical setting in such ...

, with Moshe Zakai.

Biography

Born in

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

, British mandate of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, on 27 November 1931, Ziv received his B.Sc., Dip. Eng. (1954) and M.Sc. degrees (1957) in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from the

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology is a public university, public research university located in Haifa, Israel. Established in 1912 by Jews under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire, the Technion is the oldest university in the coun ...

, and his

D.Sc. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

degree, receiving the degree from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1962. In 1970, Ziv joined the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and was the Herman Gross Professor of Electrical Engineering and a Technion Distinguished Professor. Ziv was dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering from 1974 to 1976 and vice president for Academic Affairs from 1978 to 1982. From 1987, Ziv had spent three sabbatical leaves at the Information Research Department of

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, the company operates several lab ...

Murray Hill, New Jersey Murray Hill is an unincorporated community located within portions of both Berkeley Heights and New Providence, located in Union County, in the northern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the longtime central location of Bell ...

. From 1955 to 1959, he served as a senior research engineer for the Scientific Department of the

Israel Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defense (, acronym: ) of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Israel from internal and external military threats. Its political head is the defense minister of Israel, ...

, focused on research and development of communication systems. While studying for his doctorate at M.I.T. from 1961 to 1962, he joined the Applied Science Division of Melpar, Inc. in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...

, where he was a senior research engineer performing research in communication theory. In 1962 he returned to the Israel Ministry of Defense's scientific department, as head of the Communications Division and was also a contributor to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. From 1968 to 1970 he was one of the technical staff members of Bell Laboratories, Inc., and, from 1985 to 1991, was the chairman of the Israeli Universities Planning and Grants Committee. He was also a member of the

Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, based in Jerusalem, was established in 1961 by the State of Israel to foster contact between Israeli scholars in the sciences and humanities and create a think tank for advising the government on res ...

from 1981 to his death, and he served as its president between 1995 and 2004. Ziv died on 25 March 2023, at age 91.

Awards

In 1993, Ziv was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

, for exact sciences. Ziv received in 1995 the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal, for "contributions to information theory, and the theory and practice of data compression", and in 1998 a Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation from the

IEEE Information Theory Society The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

. Ziv is the recipient of the 1997 Claude E. Shannon Award from the

and the 2008

BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards () are an international award programme recognizing significant contributions in the areas of scientific research and cultural creation. The categories that make up the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards ...

in the category of Information and Communication Technologies. In 2021, Ziv has been awarded the

IEEE Medal of Honor The IEEE Medal of Honor is the highest recognition of the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It has been awarded since 1917, and is presented to an individual or team of up to three who have made exceptional contri ...

, the highest recognition from IEEE, "for fundamental contributions to information theory and data compression technology, and for distinguished research leadership". Ziv was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 2003 and the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 2004.

Lectures

* 1992 -
Information measures of individual sequences with application to universal data compression and hypothesis testing
Lecture sponsored by the Dept. of Electrical and Computer engineering, University of California, San Diego. Electrical and Computer Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series. Digital object made available by UC San Diego Library.

References

External links

ACM Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award 1977: Jacob Ziv
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziv, Jacob 1931 births 2023 deaths Academic staff of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology Foreign associates of the National Academy of Engineering Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences IEEE Medal of Honor recipients Israeli Jews Israeli computer scientists Israeli electrical engineers Israeli information theorists Israel Defense Prize recipients Israel Prize in exact science recipients Israel Prize in exact science recipients who were computer scientists Jewish engineers Jewish scientists Jews from Mandatory Palestine Data compression researchers Burials at Menucha Nechona Cemetery Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities People from Tiberias Presidents of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Scientists at Bell Labs Technion – Israel Institute of Technology alumni

Biography

Awards

See also

Lectures

References

External links