Jorma Rissanen
Encyclopedia
Jorma J. Rissanen is an information theorist
, known for inventing the arithmetic coding
technique of lossless data compression
, and the minimum description length
principle.
An IBM
researcher since 1960, Rissanen received his Ph.D.
from the Helsinki University of Technology
in 1965. Retired from IBM, he is now professor emeritus
of Tampere University of Technology, and a fellow of Helsinki Institute for Information Technology
. He was awarded the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal in 1993, a Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation from the IEEE Information Theory Society
in 1998, the Kolmogorov Medal in 2006, and the IEEE Claude E. Shannon Award
in 2009. A Festschrift
collection was published to honor his 75th birthday.
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...
, known for inventing the arithmetic coding
Arithmetic coding
Arithmetic coding is a form of variable-length entropy encoding used in lossless data compression. Normally, a string of characters such as the words "hello there" is represented using a fixed number of bits per character, as in the ASCII code...
technique of lossless data compression
Lossless data compression
Lossless data compression is a class of data compression algorithms that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. The term lossless is in contrast to lossy data compression, which only allows an approximation of the original data to be reconstructed, in exchange...
, and the minimum description length
Minimum description length
The minimum description length principle is a formalization of Occam's Razor in which the best hypothesis for a given set of data is the one that leads to the best compression of the data. MDL was introduced by Jorma Rissanen in 1978...
principle.
An IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
researcher since 1960, Rissanen received his 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...
from the Helsinki University of Technology
Helsinki University of Technology
Aalto University School of Science and Technology , was the temporary name for Helsinki University of Technology during the process of forming the Aalto University...
in 1965. Retired from IBM, he is now professor emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
of Tampere University of Technology, and a fellow of Helsinki Institute for Information Technology
Helsinki Institute for Information Technology
Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT is a joint research unit of two leading research universities in Helsinki, Finland, the University of Helsinki and Aalto University....
. He was awarded the IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal in 1993, a Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation from the IEEE Information Theory Society
IEEE Information Theory Society
The IEEE Information Theory Society , formerly the IEEE Information Theory Group, is a professional society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers focused on several aspects of information: its processing, transmission, storage, and usage; and the "foundations of the...
in 1998, the Kolmogorov Medal in 2006, and the IEEE Claude E. Shannon Award
Claude E. Shannon Award
The Claude E. Shannon Award of the IEEE Information Theory Society was instituted to honour consistent and profound contributions to the field of information theory. Each Shannon Award winner is expected to present a Shannon Lecture at the following IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory...
in 2009. A Festschrift
Festschrift
In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...
collection was published to honor his 75th birthday.