Cleve Moler
Encyclopedia
Cleve Barry Moler is a mathematician
and computer programmer
specializing in numerical analysis
. In the mid to late 1970s, he was one of the authors of LINPACK
and EISPACK
, Fortran
libraries for numerical computing. He invented MATLAB
, a numerical computing package, to give his students at the University of New Mexico
easy access to these libraries without writing Fortran. In 1984, he co-founded MathWorks with Jack Little
to commercialize this program.
He received his bachelor's degree
from Caltech in 1961, and a Ph.D.
from Stanford University
.
He was a professor of mathematics and computer science for almost 20 years at the University of Michigan
, Stanford University
, and the University of New Mexico
. Before joining MathWorks full time in 1989, he also worked for Intel Hypercube and Ardent Computer Corporation. He is also co-author of four textbooks on numerical methods and is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery
. He was vice-president of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
and currently sits on its Board of Trustees. He started serving a two year term as president of SIAM in January 2007.
He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering
on February 14, 1997. He received an honorary degree from Linköping University
, Sweden. He received an honorary degree of Doctor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo
on June 16, 2001. On April 30, 2004, he was appointed Honorary Doctor (doctor technices, honoris causa) at the Technical University of Denmark
.
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and computer programmer
Computer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
specializing in numerical analysis
Numerical analysis
Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation for the problems of mathematical analysis ....
. In the mid to late 1970s, he was one of the authors of LINPACK
LINPACK
LINPACK is a software library for performing numerical linear algebra on digital computers. It was written in Fortran by Jack Dongarra, Jim Bunch, Cleve Moler, and Gilbert Stewart, and was intended for use on supercomputers in the 1970s and early 1980s...
and EISPACK
EISPACK
EISPACK is a software library for numerical computation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of matrices, written in FORTRAN. It contains subroutines for calculating the eigenvalues of nine classes of matrices: complex general, complex Hermitian, real general, real symmetric, real symmetric banded,...
, Fortran
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
libraries for numerical computing. He invented MATLAB
MATLAB
MATLAB is a numerical computing environment and fourth-generation programming language. Developed by MathWorks, MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages,...
, a numerical computing package, to give his students at the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
easy access to these libraries without writing Fortran. In 1984, he co-founded MathWorks with Jack Little
John N. Little
John N. Little is the president and co-founder of MathWorks and a co-author of early versions of the company's MATLAB product.He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Trustee of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council...
to commercialize this program.
He received his bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Caltech in 1961, and a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
He was a professor of mathematics and computer science for almost 20 years at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, and the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
. Before joining MathWorks full time in 1989, he also worked for Intel Hypercube and Ardent Computer Corporation. He is also co-author of four textbooks on numerical methods and is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
. He was vice-president of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics was founded by a small group of mathematicians from academia and industry who met in Philadelphia in 1951 to start an organization whose members would meet periodically to exchange ideas about the uses of mathematics in industry. This meeting led...
and currently sits on its Board of Trustees. He started serving a two year term as president of SIAM in January 2007.
He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
on February 14, 1997. He received an honorary degree from Linköping University
Linköping University
Linköping University is a state university in Linköping, Sweden. Linköping University was granted full university status in 1975 and is now one of Sweden's larger academic institutions. Education, research and PhD training are the mission of four faculties: Arts and Sciences, Educational...
, Sweden. He received an honorary degree of Doctor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
on June 16, 2001. On April 30, 2004, he was appointed Honorary Doctor (doctor technices, honoris causa) at the Technical University of Denmark
Technical University of Denmark
The Technical University of Denmark , often simply referred to as DTU, is a university just north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and is today ranked among Europe's leading engineering institutions, and the...
.
Publications
- Forsythe, George E., Malcolm, Michael A., Moler, Cleve B., "Computer methods for mathematical computations", Prentice-Hall Series in Automatic Computation, Prentice-Hall., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1977. ISBN 0131653326
- Moler, Cleve B., "Numerical Computing with MATLAB", Society for Industrial and Applied MathematicsSociety for Industrial and Applied MathematicsThe Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics was founded by a small group of mathematicians from academia and industry who met in Philadelphia in 1951 to start an organization whose members would meet periodically to exchange ideas about the uses of mathematics in industry. This meeting led...
, 2004, ISBN 978-0-898715-60-6
External links
- MathWorks biography of Moler
- Cleve Moler, Oral history interview by Thomas Haigh, 8 and 9 March, 2004, Santa Barbara, California. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Philadelphia, PA Lengthy interview transcript covering Moler's entire career. Full text available online.