David Geoffrey Cantor (April 12, 1935 – November 19, 2012) was an American mathematician, specializing in

number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Math ...

and

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

. The

Cantor–Zassenhaus algorithm In computational algebra, the Cantor–Zassenhaus algorithm is a method for factoring polynomials over finite fields (also called Galois fields). The algorithm consists mainly of exponentiation and polynomial GCD computations. It was invented by ...

for factoring polynomials is named after him; he and

Hans Zassenhaus Hans Julius Zassenhaus (28 May 1912 – 21 November 1991) was a German mathematician, known for work in many parts of abstract algebra, and as a pioneer of computer algebra. Biography He was born in Koblenz in 1912. His father was a historian and ...

published it in 1981.

Biography

Cantor was born on April 12, 1935. He completed his undergraduate studies at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, graduating in 1956, and earned his doctorate from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

(UCLA) in 1960, where he was supervised by

Basil Gordon Basil Gordon (December 23, 1931 – January 12, 2012) was a mathematician at UCLA, specializing in number theory and combinatorics. He obtained his Ph.D. at California Institute of Technology under the supervision of Tom Apostol. Ken Ono was one ...

and

Ernst G. Straus Ernst Gabor Straus (February 25, 1922 – July 12, 1983) was a German- American mathematician of Jewish origin who helped found the theories of Euclidean Ramsey theory and of the arithmetic properties of analytic functions. His extensive list of c ...

.In Memoriam: David G. Cantor Professor of Mathematics, 1935 - 2012
UCLA Department of Mathematics, retrieved 2014-12-18. He became an assistant professor at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

in 1962, moved back to UCLA in 1964, and retired in 1991. After his retirement, he worked at the Center for Communications Research in

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

. Cantor specialized in

and

. The

for factoring polynomials is named after him; he and

published it in 1981. He received the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1960 and a

Sloan Foundation Fellowship Sloan may refer to: *Sloan (surname) *MIT Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States *Sloan (band), a Canadian rock band * Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a major astronomical survey **Sloan Great Wall, a gala ...

in 1968. In 2012, he became one of the inaugural

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

s of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings ...

.List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
retrieved 2014-12-18. At the time of his death, he had been a member of the American Mathematical Society for 54 years. Cantor lived in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. He died on November 19, 2012, at the age of 77.

References

1935 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians Combinatorialists American number theorists California Institute of Technology alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of Washington faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty Fellows of the American Mathematical Society {{mathematician-stub

Biography

See also

References