Charles Joseph Colbourn (born October 24, 1953) is a Canadian

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, whose research concerns

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 ...

combinatorial design Combinatorial design theory is the part of combinatorial mathematics that deals with the existence, construction and properties of systems of finite sets whose arrangements satisfy generalized concepts of ''balance'' and/or ''symmetry''. These co ...

s, and their applications. From 1996 to 2001 he was the Dorothean Professor of Computer Science at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

; since then he has been a professor of Computer Science and Engineering at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

.Curriculum vitae
from Colbourn's web site, retrieved 2011-03-26.

Early life

Colbourn was born on October 24, 1953, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

; despite working in the United States since 1996 he retains his Canadian citizenship. He did his undergraduate studies at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, graduating in 1976; after a master's degree at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

, he returned to Toronto for a Ph.D., which he received in 1980 under the supervision of

Derek Corneil Derek Gordon Corneil is a Canadian mathematician and computer scientist, a professor ''emeritus'' of computer science at the University of Toronto, and an expert in graph algorithms and graph theory. Life When he was leaving high school, Corneil ...

. He has held faculty positions at the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

, University of Waterloo, University of Vermont, and Arizona State University, as well as visiting positions at several other universities. He has been one of three editors-in-chief of the ''Journal of Combinatorial Designs'' since 1992. In 2004, the

Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications The Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications (ICA) is an international scientific organization formed in 1990 to increase the visibility and influence of the Combinatorics, combinatorial community. In pursuit of this goal, the ICA sponsors ...

named Colbourn as that year's winner of their Euler Medal for lifetime achievements in

combinatorics Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and as an end to obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many ...

.''Bulletin of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications'', volumes 43–45, 2005; ''Proceedings of the 36th Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computing'', Congressus Numerantium 172–173, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colbourn, Charles Joseph 1953 births Living people Arizona State University faculty Canadian mathematicians Canadian computer scientists Graph theorists Scientists from Toronto University of Toronto alumni University of Waterloo alumni Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan Academic staff of the University of Waterloo University of Vermont faculty