David P. Dobkin
Encyclopedia
David Paul Dobkin is the Dean of the Faculty
and Phillip Y. Goldman '86 Professor of Computer Science
at Princeton University
.
Dobkin was born February 29, 1948, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. After receiving a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in 1970, he moved to Harvard University
for his graduate studies, receiving a Ph.D. in applied mathematics
in 1973 under the supervision of Roger W. Brockett
.
After teaching at Yale University
and the University of Arizona
he moved to Princeton in 1981. Initially appointed to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, he was one of the first professors of Computer Science at Princeton when that department was formed in 1985. In 1999, he became the first holder of the Goldman chair after its namesake donated two million dollars to the university. He was chair of the Computer Science Department at Princeton from 1994 to 2003, and in 2003 was appointed Dean of the Faculty. David Dobkin also chaired the governing board of The Geometry Center
, a NSF-established research and education center at the University of Minnesota
.
His Ph.D. students have included Michael Ian Shamos
, Bernard Chazelle
, and Diane Souvaine
.
Dobkin has been on the editorial boards of eight journals. His research has concerned computational geometry
and computer graphics
, and in 1997 he was selected as a Fellow
of the Association for Computing Machinery
for his contributions to both fields.
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
and Phillip Y. Goldman '86 Professor of Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Dobkin was born February 29, 1948, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. After receiving a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in 1970, he moved to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
for his graduate studies, receiving a Ph.D. in applied mathematics
Applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...
in 1973 under the supervision of Roger W. Brockett
Roger W. Brockett
Roger Ware Brockett is an American control theorist and the An Wang Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Harvard University, who founded the Harvard Robotics Laboratory in 1983.-Biography:...
.
After teaching at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
he moved to Princeton in 1981. Initially appointed to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, he was one of the first professors of Computer Science at Princeton when that department was formed in 1985. In 1999, he became the first holder of the Goldman chair after its namesake donated two million dollars to the university. He was chair of the Computer Science Department at Princeton from 1994 to 2003, and in 2003 was appointed Dean of the Faculty. David Dobkin also chaired the governing board of The Geometry Center
The Geometry Center
The Geometry Center was a mathematics research and education center at the University of Minnesota. It was established by the National Science Foundation in the late 1980s and closed in 1998. The focus of the Center's work was the use of computer graphics and visualization for research and...
, a NSF-established research and education center at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
.
His Ph.D. students have included Michael Ian Shamos
Michael Ian Shamos
Michael Ian Shamos is an American mathematician, attorney, book author, journal editor, consultant and company director. He is Michael Ian Shamos (born April 21, 1947, and often referred to as Mike Shamos) is an American mathematician, attorney, book author, journal editor, consultant and company...
, Bernard Chazelle
Bernard Chazelle
Bernard Chazelle is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. Much of his work is in computational geometry, where he has found many of the best-known algorithms, such as linear-time triangulation of a simple polygon, as well as many useful complexity results, such...
, and Diane Souvaine
Diane Souvaine
Diane L. Souvaine is a professor of computer science and mathematics at Tufts University, and chair of the computer science department there. In 2008 she was nominated for a six-year term to the National Science Board, a 24-member body that governs the National Science Foundation and advises the...
.
Dobkin has been on the editorial boards of eight journals. His research has concerned computational geometry
Computational geometry
Computational geometry is a branch of computer science devoted to the study of algorithms which can be stated in terms of geometry. Some purely geometrical problems arise out of the study of computational geometric algorithms, and such problems are also considered to be part of computational...
and computer graphics
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
, and in 1997 he was selected as a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
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...
for his contributions to both fields.
Additional reading
- Dobkin keeps pace with faculty interests, Princeton Weekly Bulletin, January 9, 2006
External links
- Dobkin's web site at the Princeton Computer Science department
- Dobkin's publications at DBLPDBLPDBLP is a computer science bibliography website hosted at Universität Trier, in Germany. It was originally a database and logic programming bibliography site, and has existed at least since the 1980s. DBLP listed more than 1.3 million articles on computer science in January 2010...