Richard E. Stearns facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dick Stearns
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Richard Edwin Stearns
July 5, 1936 |
| Education | Carleton College (BA) Princeton University (MA, PhD) |
| Awards | ACM Turing Award (1993) Frederick W. Lanchester Prize (1995) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University at Albany |
| Doctoral advisor | Harold W. Kuhn |
| Doctoral students | Madhav V. Marathe Thomas O'Connell |
Richard Edwin Stearns, born on July 5, 1936, is a famous American computer scientist. He is known for his important work in understanding how computers solve problems. In 1993, he received the prestigious ACM Turing Award with his colleague, Juris Hartmanis. This award is like the Nobel Prize for computer science! They earned it for their groundbreaking paper that helped create the field of computational complexity theory. In 1994, he was also honored as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery. This means he is recognized as a top expert in his field.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Richard Stearns grew up in the United States. He loved learning about numbers and how things work. He went to Carleton College and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1958. After that, he continued his studies at Princeton University. He earned his Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) in mathematics from Princeton in 1961. His doctoral advisor, who guided his research, was Harold W. Kuhn.
Contributions to Computer Science
Richard Stearns made a huge impact on computer science. His most famous work is with Juris Hartmanis. They wrote a very important paper that started the field of computational complexity theory.
What is Computational Complexity Theory?
Imagine you have a really big puzzle to solve. Computational complexity theory is like figuring out how hard that puzzle is for a computer. It helps us understand how much time and memory a computer needs to solve different problems. Some problems are easy for computers, while others are incredibly difficult. Stearns and Hartmanis helped create the rules for measuring this difficulty. Their work helps computer scientists design faster and more efficient computer programs.
Career and Recognition
After his studies, Richard Stearns worked as a computer scientist. He became a professor at the University at Albany. This university is part of the State University of New York system. He is now a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Computer Science there. This means he is a highly respected retired professor. His work continues to influence how we think about computers and their abilities.
External Links
- Richard Edwin Stearns at DBLP Bibliography ServerLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Richard Edward Stearns at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
See also
In Spanish: Richard Stearns para niños
