Henry O. Pollak
Encyclopedia
Henry Otto Pollak is an Austrian
-American
mathematician, known for his contributions
to information theory
.
Born in Vienna, Austria, he since moved to USA. While at Yale University
for his B.Sc. in mathematics
(1947)
he participated on silver-award winning teams with celebrated mathematicians as Murray Gell-Mann
and Murray Gerstenhaber
.
He earned an M.A.
and Ph.D.
(1951) degree in mathematics
from
Harvard University
, the latter on the thesis Some Estimates for Extremal Distance
advised by Lars Ahlfors.
Pollak then joined Bell Labs
(1951), where he in the early 1960s became
director of the Mathematics and Statistics Research Center.
He authored near forty papers, many of these with David Slepian
and Henry Landau
on
analysis, function theory, probability theory, and mathematics education.
He has applied mathematics to solve problems in physics and
networks, communication theory, discrete systems, statistics and data analysis, and
economic analysis.
Pollak also holds patents in the area of signalling.
He has held teaching positions in the mathematics department at Columbia University
.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mathematician, known for his contributions
to information theory
Information theory
Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering involving the quantification of information. Information theory was developed by Claude E. Shannon to find fundamental limits on signal processing operations such as compressing data and on reliably storing and...
.
Born in Vienna, Austria, he since moved to USA. While 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...
for his B.Sc. in mathematics
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...
(1947)
he participated on silver-award winning teams with celebrated mathematicians as Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann is an American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles...
and Murray Gerstenhaber
Murray Gerstenhaber
Murray Gerstenhaber is an American mathematician, professor of mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, best known for his contributions to theoretical physics with his discovery of Gerstenhaber algebra.- About :...
.
He earned an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
(1951) degree in mathematics
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...
from
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...
, the latter on the thesis Some Estimates for Extremal Distance
advised by Lars Ahlfors.
Pollak then joined Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
(1951), where he in the early 1960s became
director of the Mathematics and Statistics Research Center.
He authored near forty papers, many of these with David Slepian
David Slepian
David S. Slepian was an American mathematician.Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania he studied B.Sc. at University of Michigan before joining the forces in World War II,as Sonic deception officer in the Ghost army....
and Henry Landau
Henry Landau
Henry Jacob Landau is an American mathematician, known forhis contributions to information theory, in particular to the theory of bandlimited functions and on moment issues.He received an A.B. , A.M. and Ph.D...
on
analysis, function theory, probability theory, and mathematics education.
He has applied mathematics to solve problems in physics and
networks, communication theory, discrete systems, statistics and data analysis, and
economic analysis.
Pollak also holds patents in the area of signalling.
He has held teaching positions in the mathematics department at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Awards
- Earle Raymond HedrickEarle Raymond HedrickEarle Raymond Hedrick , was an American mathematician and a vice-president of the University of California.Hedrick was born in Union City, Indiana....
lecturer (1973) - Mathematical Association of AmericaMathematical Association of AmericaThe Mathematical Association of America is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists;...
chair of New Jersey section (1958–59), governor (1961–63) and president (1975–76). - honorary Sc.D. at Bowdoin CollegeBowdoin CollegeBowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
(1977) - honorary doctorate from Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (1981)
- Dan Christie lecture on On the Addressing Problem in Loop Switching, or, How to Embed an Arbitrary Graph in a Squashed Cube at Bowdoin CollegeBowdoin CollegeBowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
(1983) - Mathematical Association of AmericaMathematical Association of AmericaThe Mathematical Association of America is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists;...
Meritorious Service Award (1990)