Mike Paterson facts for kids

Michael Stewart Paterson, often called Mike Paterson, is a famous British computer scientist. He used to lead a special center for math and computer science at the University of Warwick. He was also in charge of the computer science department there.

Mike Paterson got his highest degree, a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), from the University of Cambridge in 1967. After that, he worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for three years. In 1971, he moved to the University of Warwick, where he is now a Professor Emeritus. This means he is a retired professor who still keeps his title.

About Mike Paterson's Work

Mike Paterson is an expert in theoretical computer science. This field uses math to understand how computers work and how to solve problems with them. He has written over 100 papers on topics like algorithms and computational complexity.

What are Algorithms and Complexity?

Think of an algorithm as a step-by-step recipe for a computer to follow. Mike Paterson helps design these recipes to be as fast and efficient as possible.

Computational complexity is about how much time and memory a computer needs to run an algorithm. Mike Paterson studies how to make these "recipes" use the least amount of resources.

Awards and Recognition

Mike Paterson's amazing career has been recognized with several awards. In 2006, he received the EATCS Award, which is a very important prize in theoretical computer science.

In 2001, he won the Dijkstra Prize for his work on distributed computing. This is about how multiple computers can work together to solve a problem. He shared this award with Michael J. Fischer and Nancy Lynch.

He also won a "best paper" award at the ICALP conference in 2006. This was for his work on counting graph homomorphisms, which is a complex math problem. In 2010, he received a Lester R. Ford Award.

Since 2001, Mike Paterson has been a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. He was also the president of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS).

Many people, including other famous computer scientists, have celebrated his work. They held workshops for his 66th and 75th birthdays to honor his contributions to the field.

Computer Science as a Science

According to Maurice Nivat, a former EATCS president, Mike Paterson played a big part in showing that computer science is a real science. He helped prove that theoretical computer science is a challenging and important area of research.

Beyond Computer Science

Outside of his work, Mike Paterson is also a very keen mountaineer. He enjoys climbing mountains!

See also

• Paterson's worms
• Sprouts (game)