Reid W. Barton
Encyclopedia
Reid W. Barton was one of the most successful performers in the International Science Olympiad
s. He is an MIT
alumnus.
, in chemistry
(5th grade), physics
(6th grade), and subsequently Swedish
, Finnish
, French
, and Chinese
. Since eighth grade he worked part-time with MIT computer scientist
Charles E. Leiserson
on CilkChess
, a computer chess
program.
, culminating in full marks at the 2001 Olympiad held in Washington, D.C.
, shared with Gabriel Carroll, Xiao Liang and
Zhang Zhiqiang.
Barton has been placed among the five top ranked competitors (who are themselves not ranked against each other) in the William Lowell Putnam Competition four times (2001–2004), a performance matched by six others (Don Coppersmith
(1968–71), Arthur Rubin
(1970–73), Bjorn Poonen
(1985–88), Ravi D. Vakil (1988–91), Gabriel D. Carroll
(2000–03), Daniel Kane (2003–06)). Barton was a member of the MIT
team which finished second in 2001 and first in 2003 and 2004.
Barton has won two gold medals at the International Olympiad in Informatics
. In 2001 he finished first with 580 points out of 600, 55 ahead of his nearest competitor, the largest margin in IOI history at the time. Barton was a member of the 2nd and 5th place MIT
team at the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest
, and reached the finals in the TopCoder
Open (2004), semi-finals (2003, 2006), the TopCoder Collegiate Challenge (2004), semi-finals (2006), TCCC Regional finals (2002), and TopCoder Invitational semi-finalist (2002).
awarded jointly by the American Mathematical Society
and the Mathematical Association of America
for his work on packing densities.
Barton has taught at various academic olympiad training programs for high schoolers, such as the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program
.
International Science Olympiad
The International Science Olympiads are a group of worldwide annual competitions in various areas of science. The competitions are designed for the 4-6 best high school students from each participating country selected through internal National Science Olympiads, with the exception of the IOL,...
s. He is an MIT
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...
alumnus.
Biography
Barton is the son of two environmental engineers. Officially homeschooled since third grade, Barton took part time classes at Tufts UniversityTufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, in chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
(5th grade), physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
(6th grade), and subsequently Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
. Since eighth grade he worked part-time with MIT computer scientist
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...
Charles E. Leiserson
Charles E. Leiserson
Charles Eric Leiserson is a computer scientist, specializing in the theory of parallel computing and distributed computing, and particularly practical applications thereof; as part of this effort, he developed the Cilk multithreaded language...
on CilkChess
CilkChess
Cilkchess is a chess-playing program which was written in Cilk. This program has won numerous prizes in international competition and in its time it was considered to be among the strongest in the world.-...
, a computer chess
Computer chess
Computer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
program.
Mathematical and programming competitions
Barton was the first student to win four gold medals at the International Mathematical OlympiadInternational Mathematical Olympiad
The International Mathematical Olympiad is an annual six-problem, 42-point mathematical olympiad for pre-collegiate students and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except in 1980...
, culminating in full marks at the 2001 Olympiad held in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, shared with Gabriel Carroll, Xiao Liang and
Zhang Zhiqiang.
Barton has been placed among the five top ranked competitors (who are themselves not ranked against each other) in the William Lowell Putnam Competition four times (2001–2004), a performance matched by six others (Don Coppersmith
Don Coppersmith
Don Coppersmith is a cryptographer and mathematician. He was involved in the design of the Data Encryption Standard block cipher at IBM, particularly the design of the S-boxes, strengthening them against differential cryptanalysis...
(1968–71), Arthur Rubin
Arthur Rubin
Arthur Leonard Rubin is an American mathematician.-Biography:As an undergraduate he placed among the top five competitors in the William Lowell Putnam Competition on four occasions , a feat matched by only six other undergraduate students since the first competition in 1938...
(1970–73), Bjorn Poonen
Bjorn Poonen
Bjorn Mikhail Poonen is a mathematician, four-time Putnam Competition winner and currently the Claude Shannon Professor of Mathematics at MIT.His research is primarily in number theory and algebraic geometry, but he has occasionally published in other subjects such as probability and computer...
(1985–88), Ravi D. Vakil (1988–91), Gabriel D. Carroll
Gabriel D. Carroll
Gabriel Drew Carroll is a graduate of Harvard and a current MIT student who received numerous awards in mathematics while a student. Carroll won two gold medals and a silver medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad, earning a perfect score at the 2001 International Mathematical Olympiad...
(2000–03), Daniel Kane (2003–06)). Barton was a member of the MIT
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...
team which finished second in 2001 and first in 2003 and 2004.
Barton has won two gold medals at the International Olympiad in Informatics
International Olympiad in Informatics
The International Olympiad in Informatics is an annual computer science competition for secondary school students. The first IOI was held in 1989 in Pravetz, Bulgaria....
. In 2001 he finished first with 580 points out of 600, 55 ahead of his nearest competitor, the largest margin in IOI history at the time. Barton was a member of the 2nd and 5th place MIT
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...
team at the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest
ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest
ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest is an annual multi-tiered computer programming competition among the universities of the world. The contest is sponsored by IBM. Headquartered at Baylor University, with autonomous regions on six continents, the ICPC is directed by Baylor Professor...
, and reached the finals in the TopCoder
TopCoder
TopCoder is a company which administers contests in computer programming. TopCoder hosts fortnightly online algorithm competitions — known as SRMs or "single round matches" — as well as weekly competitions in design and development. The work in design and development produces useful software...
Open (2004), semi-finals (2003, 2006), the TopCoder Collegiate Challenge (2004), semi-finals (2006), TCCC Regional finals (2002), and TopCoder Invitational semi-finalist (2002).
Other accomplishments
Barton has won the Morgan PrizeMorgan Prize
The Morgan Prize in Mathematics may refer to:* Frank and Brennie Morgan Prize for Outstanding Research in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Student awarded jointly by the American Mathematical Society, Mathematical Association of America and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics* De Morgan...
awarded jointly by the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
and the Mathematical Association of America
Mathematical Association of America
The 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;...
for his work on packing densities.
Barton has taught at various academic olympiad training programs for high schoolers, such as the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program
Mathematical Olympiad Program
The Mathematical Olympiad Program or MOP is an intensive summer program held at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The main purpose of MOP, held since 1974, is to select and train the six members of the U.S. team for the International Mathematical Olympiad . Students qualify for the program by taking...
.