Marcel Fernand Neuts (21 February 1935 – 9 March 2014) is a Belgian-American mathematician and probability theorist. He's known for contributions in

algorithmic probability In algorithmic information theory, algorithmic probability, also known as Solomonoff probability, is a mathematical method of assigning a prior probability to a given observation. It was invented by Ray Solomonoff in the 1960s. It is used in ind ...

stochastic processes In probability theory and related fields, a stochastic () or random process is a mathematical object usually defined as a family of random variables. Stochastic processes are widely used as mathematical models of systems and phenomena that a ...

, and

queuing theory Queueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting lines, or queues. A queueing model is constructed so that queue lengths and waiting time can be predicted. Queueing theory is generally considered a branch of operations research because the ...

Education and career

Neuts was born in

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariake ...

, Belgium and studied at the

KU Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, l ...

. He moved to the US in 1956 along with his wife Olga. He was admitted to graduate programs at Stanford University and received his MSc in 1959 and PhD at the same place in 1961, just two years after the MSc degree, under the supervision of

Samuel Karlin Samuel Karlin (June 8, 1924 – December 18, 2007) was an American mathematician at Stanford University in the late 20th century. Biography Karlin was born in Janów, Poland and immigrated to Chicago as a child. Raised in an Orthodox Jewish hou ...

. He held positions at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

from 1962 to 1976, the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 m ...

from 1976 to 1985, and at the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

from 1985 until his retirement in 1997.

Honors and awards

Neuts received the

Lester R. Ford Award Lester is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname and given name. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name * Lester Bangs (1948–1982), American music critic * Lester W. Bentley (1908–1972), American artist from Wisco ...

from the Mathematical Association of America in 1969. Neuts served as the chairman of the Applied Probability Society of the

Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is an international society for practitioners in the fields of operations research (O.R.), management science, and analytics. It was established in 1995 with the merger of ...

between 1977 and 1978. He received the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship in 1983 to conduct research at the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wi ...

. He was the founding editor of the journal

Stochastic Models In probability theory and related fields, a stochastic () or random process is a mathematical object usually defined as a family of random variables. Stochastic processes are widely used as mathematical models of systems and phenomena that appea ...

and a contributing editor for

Journal of Applied Probability A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

and Advances in Applied Probability. The journal Stochastic Models has established a prize after Neuts for best papers published in the journal.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neuts, Marcel F. 1935 births 2014 deaths KU Leuven alumni Stanford University alumni Purdue University faculty University of Delaware faculty University of Arizona faculty Probability theorists Belgian mathematicians American mathematicians People from Ostend