Dana Randall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dana Randall
|
|
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Awards | Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, Outstanding Service Award, Georgia Tech |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Theoretical computer science |
| Institutions | Georgia Tech |
| Notes | |
|
Sister of Lisa Randall
|
|
Dana Randall is an American computer scientist. She is a professor of computer science at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She also teaches mathematics there. She is an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute.
Before this, she helped start and led the Georgia Tech Institute of Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS). She also directed the Algorithms and Randomness Center. Her work involves studying combinatorics (ways to arrange things). She also looks at how computers can understand physics. She uses special methods called Monte Carlo simulations and randomized algorithms. She also studies "programmable active matter," which are tiny materials that can change their shape or behavior.
About Her Life and Studies
Dana Randall was born in Queens, New York. She went to New York City's Stuyvesant High School and finished in 1984.
She earned her first degree in Mathematics from Harvard University in 1988. Later, she got her Ph.D. in computer science in 1994. This was from the University of California, Berkeley. Her advisor there was Alistair Sinclair.
Her sister, Lisa Randall, is a famous theoretical physicist.
What She Researches
Dana Randall's main research is about analyzing algorithms. Algorithms are like step-by-step instructions for computers. She focuses on "counting problems." This means figuring out how many ways something can happen. For example, counting how many different ways items can be paired up in a graph.
She uses Markov chains to help with these counting problems. Markov chains are mathematical models that describe sequences of events. One important thing she discovered is a special way to break down Markov chains. This helps make them easier to study.
Awards and Honors
In 2012, Dana Randall became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. This is a big honor for mathematicians.
In 2024, she was named an ACM Fellow. This award is from the Association for Computing Machinery. She received it for her important work on Markov chains and programmable active matter.
She also gave the Arnold Ross Lecture on October 29, 2009. This is a special lecture given by leading mathematicians. Other famous mathematicians have given this lecture too.
See also
- In Spanish: Dana Randall para niños
