Taylor Lockwood Booth (September 22, 1933 – October 20, 1986) was a

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 ...

known for his work in

automata theory Automata theory is the study of abstract machines and automata, as well as the computational problems that can be solved using them. It is a theory in theoretical computer science with close connections to cognitive science and mathematical l ...

. One of his fundamental works is ''Sequential Machines and Automata Theory'' (1967). It is a wide-ranging book meant for specialists, written for both theoretical computer scientists as well as electrical engineers. It deals with state minimization techniques,

finite-state machine A finite-state machine (FSM) or finite-state automaton (FSA, plural: ''automata''), finite automaton, or simply a state machine, is a mathematical model of computation. It is an abstract machine that can be in exactly one of a finite number o ...

Turing machine A Turing machine is a mathematical model of computation describing an abstract machine that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. Despite the model's simplicity, it is capable of implementing any computer algori ...

Markov process In probability theory and statistics, a Markov chain or Markov process is a stochastic process describing a sequence of possible events in which the probability of each event depends only on the state attained in the previous event. Informally, ...

es, and undecidability.

Education

Booth studied at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, where he received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.

Professional career

At his alma mater Booth was professor at the

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, ...

and

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

department. He was the founder and director of the Computer Applications & Research Center (CARC) at the

's School of Engineering. In 1981 the center was created to support the school's growing need for centralized computing research and development services. After his death the center was renamed to "Taylor L. Booth Center for Computer Applications and Research" or in its shorter form the "Booth Research Center". In 2002 this merged with the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), another center at the School of Engineering, to form the "Booth Engineering Center for Advanced Technology" (BECAT). Booth was the first president of the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board, founded in 1984 and since renamed to CSAB.

Awards and honors

Professor Booth received following awards and honors: * The

Frederick Emmons Terman Award Frederick Emmons Terman (; June 7, 1900 – December 19, 1982) was an American professor and academic administrator. He was the dean of the school of engineering from 1944 to 1958 and provost from 1955 to 1965 at Stanford University. He is widely ...

from the

American Society for Engineering Education American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

in 1972, to recognize the outstanding young electrical engineering educator. * The

IEEE Centennial Medal The IEEE Centennial Medal was a medal minted and awarded in 1984 ''to persons deserving of special recognition for extraordinary achievement'' to celebrate the Centennial of the founding of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (I ...

from the

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

(IEEE) in 1984. * The Distinguished Service Award from the

IEEE Computer Society IEEE Computer Society (commonly known as the Computer Society or CS) is a technical society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) dedicated to computing, namely the major areas of hardware, software, standards and people ...

in 1985, for his accreditation work.

Taylor L. Booth Education Award

After Booth's death, the IEEE Computer Society established the Taylor L. Booth Education Award, to keep his name in memory. The award is given annually for individuals with an "outstanding record in computer science and engineering education".

References

External links

* Taylor Booth (1967) ''Sequential Machines and Automata Theory'', John Wiley and Sons, New York. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67–25924. {{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Taylor 1933 births 1986 deaths University of Connecticut faculty 20th-century American mathematicians IEEE Centennial Medal laureates People from Manchester, Connecticut Mathematicians from Connecticut