James Demmel
Encyclopedia
James Weldon Demmel is an American mathematician
and computer scientist
, the Dr. Richard Carl Dehmel Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley
.
Demmel did his undergraduate studies at the California Institute of Technology
, graduating in 1975 with a B.S. in mathematics
. He earned his Ph.D. in computer science
in 1983 from UC Berkeley, under the supervision of William Kahan
; his dissertation was entitled A Numerical Analyst's Jordan Canonical Form. After holding a faculty position at New York University
for six years, he moved to Berkeley in 1990.
Demmel is known for his work on LAPACK
, a software library for numerical linear algebra
and more generally for research in numerical algorithms combining mathematical rigor with high performance implementation. Prometheus, a parallel
multigrid finite element solver written by Demmel, Mark Adams, and Robert Taylor, won the Carl Benz Award at Supercomputing 1999 and the Gordon Bell Prize
for Adams and his coworkers at Supercomputing 2004.
Demmel was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering
in 1999, a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery
in 1999, a fellow of the IEEE in 2001, a fellow of SIAM in 2009, and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
in 2011. Demmel was one of two scientists honored in 1986 with the Leslie Fox Prize for Numerical Analysis
. In 1993, Demmel won the J.H. Wilkinson Prize in Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, and in 2010, he was the winner of the IEEE's Sidney Fernbach Award
"for computational science leadership in creating adaptive, innovative, high-performance linear algebra software".
Demmel is married to Katherine Yelick, who is herself a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UC Berkeley, and Director of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC).
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and computer scientist
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
, the Dr. Richard Carl Dehmel Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
Demmel did his undergraduate studies at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, graduating in 1975 with a B.S. 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...
. He earned his Ph.D. in 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...
in 1983 from UC Berkeley, under the supervision of William Kahan
William Kahan
William Morton Kahan is a mathematician and computer scientist who received the Turing Award in 1989 for "his fundamental contributions to numerical analysis", and was named an ACM Fellow in 1994....
; his dissertation was entitled A Numerical Analyst's Jordan Canonical Form. After holding a faculty position at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
for six years, he moved to Berkeley in 1990.
Demmel is known for his work on LAPACK
LAPACK
-External links:* : a modern replacement for PLAPACK and ScaLAPACK* on Netlib.org* * * : a modern replacement for LAPACK that is MultiGPU ready* on Sourceforge.net* * optimized LAPACK for Solaris OS on SPARC/x86/x64 and Linux* * *...
, a software library for numerical linear algebra
Numerical linear algebra
Numerical linear algebra is the study of algorithms for performing linear algebra computations, most notably matrix operations, on computers. It is often a fundamental part of engineering and computational science problems, such as image and signal processing, Telecommunication, computational...
and more generally for research in numerical algorithms combining mathematical rigor with high performance implementation. Prometheus, a parallel
Parallel computing
Parallel computing is a form of computation in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously, operating on the principle that large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which are then solved concurrently . There are several different forms of parallel computing: bit-level,...
multigrid finite element solver written by Demmel, Mark Adams, and Robert Taylor, won the Carl Benz Award at Supercomputing 1999 and the Gordon Bell Prize
Gordon Bell Prize
The Gordon Bell Prizes are a set of awards awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery in conjunction with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers each year at the Supercomputing Conference to recognize outstanding achievement in high-performance computing applications...
for Adams and his coworkers at Supercomputing 2004.
Demmel was elected as a member of 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...
in 1999, a fellow 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...
in 1999, a fellow of the IEEE in 2001, a fellow of SIAM in 2009, and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
in 2011. Demmel was one of two scientists honored in 1986 with the Leslie Fox Prize for Numerical Analysis
Leslie Fox Prize for Numerical Analysis
The Leslie Fox Prize for Numerical Analysis of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications is a biennial prize established in 1985 by the IMA in honour of mathematician Leslie Fox . The prize honours "young numerical analysts worldwide" , and applicants submit papers for review...
. In 1993, Demmel won the J.H. Wilkinson Prize in Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, and in 2010, he was the winner of the IEEE's Sidney Fernbach Award
Sidney Fernbach Award
The Sidney Fernbach Award established in 1992 by the IEEE Computer Society, in memory of Sidney Fernbach, one of the pioneers in the development and application of high performance computers for the solution of large computational problems as the Division Chief for the Computation Division at...
"for computational science leadership in creating adaptive, innovative, high-performance linear algebra software".
Demmel is married to Katherine Yelick, who is herself a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UC Berkeley, and Director of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC).