Luca Trevisan (21 July 1971 – 19 June 2024) was an Italian professor of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

Bocconi University Bocconi University or Università Bocconi (formally known in Italian language, Italian as ''Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi'' – Luigi Bocconi Commercial University) is a private university in Milan, Italy. The university is consistently ...

in Milan. His research area was

theoretical computer science Theoretical computer science is a subfield of computer science and mathematics that focuses on the Abstraction, abstract and mathematical foundations of computation. It is difficult to circumscribe the theoretical areas precisely. The Associati ...

, focusing on

randomness In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of definite pattern or predictability in information. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. ...

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...

, probabilistically checkable proofs,

approximation An approximation is anything that is intentionally similar but not exactly equal to something else. Etymology and usage The word ''approximation'' is derived from Latin ''approximatus'', from ''proximus'' meaning ''very near'' and the prefix ...

property testing Property testing is a field of theoretical computer science, concerned with the design of super-fast algorithms for approximate decision making, where the decision refers to properties or parameters of huge objects. A ''property testing algorithm ...

spectral graph theory In mathematics, spectral graph theory is the study of the properties of a Graph (discrete mathematics), graph in relationship to the characteristic polynomial, eigenvalues, and eigenvectors of matrices associated with the graph, such as its adjacen ...

, and

sublinear algorithm In theoretical computer science, the time complexity is the computational complexity that describes the amount of computer time it takes to run an algorithm. Time complexity is commonly estimated by counting the number of elementary operations p ...

s. He also ran a blog, ''in theory'', about

Education and career

Trevisan received his PhD from La Sapienza,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, under the supervision of Pierluigi Crescenzi. After postdoctoral studies at 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 ...

and DIMACS, he held an assistant professor position at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

before moving to 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 ...

and then, in 2010, to

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. In 2014 he returned to Berkeley, and in 2019 he moved to the Department of Decision Sciences at

Recognition

Trevisan won the

Danny Lewin Best Student Paper Award The Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC) is an academic conference in the field of theoretical computer science. STOC has been organized annually since 1969, typically in May or June; the conference is sponsored by the Association for ...

at the 1997

Symposium on Theory of Computing The Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC) is an academic conference in the field of theoretical computer science. STOC has been organized annually since 1969, typically in May or June; the conference is sponsored by the Association for ...

, the Oberwolfach Prize in 2000, and a

Sloan Fellowship The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...

also in 2000. He was an invited speaker at the 2006

International Congress of Mathematicians The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The Fields Medals, the IMU Abacus Medal (known before ...

in Madrid. He was an Erdős Lecturer at

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

in 2012.

Personal life and death

Trevisan came out as gay in 2000, and in 2012 he organised a collection of testimonials by gay theoretical computer scientists on their experiences in the research community. Trevisan died in Milan after succumbing to cancer on 19 June 2024, at the age of 52.

References

External links

List of Publicationsin theory
Trevisan's blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Trevisan, Luca 1971 births 2024 deaths Columbia University faculty Stanford University School of Engineering faculty Theoretical computer scientists Italian LGBTQ scientists Italian gay men Italian emigrants to the United States UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty Science bloggers 21st-century science writers Sapienza University of Rome alumni Sloan Research Fellows Gay academics Gay scientists Scientists from Rome