Ronald Graham

Professor, Computer Science & Engineering

Computer science, Internet routing, and mathematics, including combinatorics, number theory, graph theory, discrete and computational geometry.

Professor Graham is one of the world's best-known mathematicians, computer theorists, and technology visionaries. In math, he pioneered worst-case analysis in scheduling theory, online algorithms, quasi-randomness, and Ramsey Theory--a branch of pure math that states that complete disorder is impossible. Graham is in the Guinness Book of World Records for using (in 1977) the largest number ever in a mathematical proof (so large, there isn't even a notation for it), now known as "Graham's number." He is a leading authority on mathematics great Paul Erdös, and his Ph.D. thesis on 20 number theory developed into a lifelong interest in cryptography.During his long career at AT&T (see bio), Graham's work on "hard problems" in mathematics led him to focus on the complexity of routing milions oftelephone calls. And his work on routing was influential in t he earlyarchitecture of the Internet, as well as the vision of "anywhere/anytime access to the wireless Web" pursued by Cal-(IT)2 where he serves as Chief Scientist. Today Graham sits on the Board of Directors of a company that is synonymous with Web server technology--Akamai.

Capsule Bio:
Ronald Graham holds the Irwin and Joan Jacobs Endowed Chair in Computer and Information Science and is Chief Scientist of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology. He joined the UCSD faculty in 1999, after a 37-year career with AT&T. Graham received his Ph.D. in mathematics from U.C. Berkeley in 1962. From 1962-95, he was director of information sciences at AT&T Bell Labs, and from 1996-99 Chief Scientist of AT&T Labs. Graham has held visiting professorships at Rutgers, Princeton, Caltech, Stanford, UCLA, and U.C. Davis, and he holds five honorary doctorates. Graham is the Treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of Amer. Academy of Arts and Sciences, a past President of the American Mathematical Society, and is currently President of the Mathematical Association of America. He has won numerous awards in the field of mathematics, including the Polya Prize in Combinatorics.

Institute Affiliation:
Chief Scientist,
California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology »