Margaret H. Wright facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Professor
Margaret H. Wright
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| Born | February 18, 1944 San Francisco, United States
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | B.S. in Mathematics, M.S., Ph.D. in Computer Science |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Occupation | Computer scientist |
| Awards | Member of the National Academy of Sciences Member of the National Academy of Engineering Fellow of the American Mathematical Society President of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (1995-1996) Bell Labs Fellow Editor-in-Chief of SIAM Review (1999-2004) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Optimization, Linear Algebra, Scientific Computing |
| Institutions | NYU Courant, Bell Laboratories, Stanford University (Systems Optimization Laboratory), GTE Sylvania |
| Thesis | Numerical Methods for Nonlinearly Constrained Optimization (1976) |
| Doctoral advisor | Gene H. Golub, Walter Murray |
Margaret H. Wright (born February 18, 1944) is an American computer scientist and mathematician. She is a special professor of Computer Science at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Her work focuses on optimization (finding the best solutions to problems), linear algebra (a type of math dealing with equations), and scientific computing (using computers to solve science problems).
She was chosen to be part of the National Academy of Engineering in 1997. This was for creating new ways to solve math problems using computers and for being a leader in applied mathematics. In 2005, she was also elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She was the first woman to be the President of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).
Contents
Early Life and Education
Margaret Wright was born in San Francisco in 1944. She spent her early years in Hanford, California. Both of her parents were medical doctors. When she was 10, her family moved to Tucson, Arizona. She went to junior high and high school there. She finished high school in 1960 when she was 16. She was very good at school, especially in mathematics.
College Years at Stanford
She went to Stanford University for college. Stanford was one of the few top universities that accepted women at that time. She was interested in many subjects like literature, French, history, and math. She chose to major in mathematics. This was because she was told a math degree would lead to better job opportunities. Her mother always worked, and Margaret planned to have a job too.
She earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), in mathematics from Stanford in 1964. She then got a Master of Science (M.S.) in computer science from Stanford in 1965.
Working and Returning to School
After her M.S. degree, she worked at GTE Sylvania from 1965 to 1971. There, she wrote computer programs to run mathematical simulations. She learned about different ways to solve optimization problems. At that time, women often earned less than men, even with similar or better skills. Because of this and other reasons, she decided to go back to Stanford in 1971 to earn her Ph.D.
She started her Ph.D. program in computer science at Stanford in 1971. She received support from Gene H. Golub. During her studies, two researchers, Philip E. Gill and Walter Murray, visited Stanford. They greatly influenced her Ph.D. work and future career. She even went to the UK for six months to work on her research with them. She finished her Ph.D. in 1976. Her research was about using computer methods to solve complex optimization problems.
Scientific Career
After getting her Ph.D. in 1976, Dr. Wright joined the Systems Optimization Laboratory (SOL) at Stanford University. She worked with George Dantzig, a famous mathematician. Later, Philip Gill, Walter Murray, and Michael Saunders also joined SOL. They were known as the "Gang of Four" and wrote many important scientific papers together. They always listed their names in alphabetical order on their papers.
Discoveries in Optimization
In 1984, a new method called Karmarkar's algorithm was announced. It was a fast way to solve certain types of math problems. Dr. Wright and her colleagues quickly realized that this new method was related to "barrier methods," which was what her Ph.D. thesis was about. This showed that barrier methods were much more useful than people had thought before.
Work at Bell Labs
In 1988, Dr. Wright moved to Bell Labs, a famous research company. She became a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff. From 1997 to 2000, she led the Scientific Computing Research Department. She was named a Bell Labs Fellow in 1999. At Bell Labs, she worked on many projects, including wireless communication systems. She also studied a popular method for solving optimization problems called the Nelder–Mead method.
Leading at New York University
In 2001, Dr. Wright joined the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. She became a Silver Professor of Computer Science and a professor of mathematics. She was the Chair of the Computer Science department from 2001 to 2009.
Helping the Scientific Community
Dr. Wright has held many important roles in the scientific community. She has led and served on committees that give out awards and choose new members. She has also been part of many national and international advisory groups.
- From 1995 to 1996, she was the first female president of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). She also served on SIAM's Board of Trustees and Council.
- From 1999 to 2004, she was the editor-in-chief of SIAM Review, a major scientific journal.
- In 2010, she led an important review of mathematical sciences in the UK.
Awards and Recognitions
Dr. Margaret Wright has received many awards for her important work:
- In 1997, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
- In 2000, she gave the Noether Lecture. This award honors women who have made big contributions to mathematics.
- In 2001, she became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- She received service awards from SIAM (2000) and AMS (2002) for her contributions to the profession and public service.
- In 2002, she became a Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences.
- She received honorary doctorates from the University of Waterloo (2003) and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden (2008).
- In 2005, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
- She became a Fellow of SIAM in 2009 and the American Mathematical Society in 2012.
- In 2013, she was named an honorary member of the London Mathematical Society.
- In 2016, she became a Senior Fellow in the Simons Society of Fellows.
- In 2019, she received the John von Neumann Prize. This award recognized her groundbreaking work in solving optimization problems with computers and explaining the subject clearly.
See also
In Spanish: Margaret H. Wright para niños
