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HP Senior Fellow Robert E. Tarjan has been named winner of the
2004 Blaise Pascal Medal in Mathematics and Computer Science
for his contributions to computer science
and for the development of fundamental computer algorithms.
Tarjan, who has also received the prestigious A.M. Turing
Award, is a well-known expert in the design and analysis of computer
algorithms. He is the inventor or co-inventor
of the most efficient known algorithms and data structures for
problems in a wide variety of application areas.
The Blaise Pascal Medal was established by European Academy of
Sciences in 2003 to recognize
an outstanding and demonstrated personal contribution to science
and technology and the promotion of excellence in research and
education. The academy awards medals in three fields besides mathematics:
natural sciences, engineering and physics.
Tarjan was one of two
winners of the mathematics prize.The
other was Prof. Lev Kudryavtsev, a Russian mathematician who
was honored for contributions to the theory of functions, topology;and
mathematical education.
At HP, Tarjan is responsible for identifying key technological
trends and determining how the company can best respond, as well
as for helping to coordinate and strengthen research and development
efforts.
At the same time, he continues his own research
in data structures, algorithms and security and teaches at Princeton
University, where he is the James S.
McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Computer Science.
Tarjan has published
more than 170 refereed journal articles and book chapters. A member
of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering
and other learned societies, he was awarded the first Nevanlinna
Prize in Information Science in 1983, the Turing Award in 1986
and the Paris Kanellakis Award in Theory and Practice in 1999.
He is also a fellow of the Association for
Computing Machinery (ACM) and the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences,
Dr. Tarjan received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the
California Institute of Technology in 1969 and an master's and
doctorate . in computer science from Stanford University
in 1971 and 1972, respectively.
Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician,
physicist, theologian who invented a mechanical adding machine.
Among other things, he
is known for Pascal's Wager, an argument for the belief in God
based on probabilities. Pascal's triangle, a way to present binomial
coefficients, bears his name, as does the Pascal computer programming
language.
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