Theoretical computer scientists receive John von Neumann Theory Prize
Newswise — Computer Science Teachers Christos Papadimitriou And Mihalis Yannakakis moved back John von Neumann Theory Prize for their research in computational complexity theory that explores the limits of efficiently solving decision and optimization problems crucial to operations research and management science.
Recipients received the award at the INFORMS 2023 Annual Meeting in October in Phoenix, Arizona. The Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS) first awarded this award in 1975 to recognize a body of work that has demonstrated enduring value to the field of operations research and management sciences. Its criteria encompass importance, innovation, depth and scientific excellence, allowing for a broad and comprehensive assessment.
Papadimitriou and Yannakakis began collaborating while they were doctoral students. students at Princeton University. Together they have published more than 40 articles, 20 of which have received more than 100 citations. Their 1988 article, “Optimization, approximation and complexity course”, introduced a range of new complexity classes and approximation notions that continue to be studied today.
Before joining Columbia Engineering in 2004, he spent a year teaching at Stanford University and worked in industry as director of the Computational Principles Research Department at Bell Labs and director of the Computational Principles Research Department. the IT principles of Avaya laboratories. He received his electrical engineering degree from the National Technical University of Athens and his Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton. Yannakakis is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Academia Europaea. He received the seventh Knuth Prize and the EATCS Distinguished Achievements Award for his contributions to theoretical computer science, and he is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery, Bell Laboratories, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS ).
Papadimitriou joined Columbia Engineering in 2017 and previously taught at Harvard University, MIT, National Technical University of Athens, Stanford, University of California San Diego, and University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of several textbooks, including Elements of the Theory of Computation, Computational Complexity, and Combinatorial Optimization: Algorithms and Complexity. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, Papadimitriou is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of several awards, including the Knuth Prize, the Gödel Prize, the EATCS Prize, the John of the IEEE. von Neumann and the 2019 Harvey Prize from the Technion. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Athens Polytechnic and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton.
