Gilbert Strang

W. Gilbert Strang
Born	November 27, 1934 Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	United States
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Alma mater	MIT (S.B.) Balliol College, Oxford (M.A.) UCLA (Ph.D.)
Thesis	Difference Methods for Mixed Boundary Value Problems (1959)
Doctoral advisor	Peter K. Henrici
Doctoral students	Hermann Flaschka
Notable awards	Chauvenet Prize (1977)

William Gilbert Strang (born November 27, 1934^[1]), usually known as simply Gilbert Strang or Gil Strang, is an American mathematician, with contributions to finite element theory, the calculus of variations, wavelet analysis and linear algebra. He has made many contributions to mathematics education, including publishing seven mathematics textbooks and one monograph. Strang is the MathWorks Professor of Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[2] He teaches Introduction to Linear Algebra and Computational Science and Engineering and his lectures are freely available through MIT OpenCourseWare. Professor Strang is well-known for his unique and somewhat offbeat presentation style that many find to be both entertaining and highly informative.

Education

• S.B., 1955, MIT
• B. A., M. A., 1957, Rhodes Scholar, Balliol College, Oxford
• Ph. D., National Science Foundation Fellow, 1959, University of California, Los Angeles. Dissertation: "Difference Methods for Mixed Boundary Value Problems"

University positions

• Professor of Mathematics, MIT (1962–)
• Honorary Fellow, Balliol College, Oxford

Awards and honors

• Rhodes Scholar (1955)
• Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (1966–1967)
• Chauvenet Prize, Mathematical Association of America (1976)
• Honorary Professor, Xian Jiaotong University, China (1980)
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1985)
• Honorary Fellow, Balliol College, Oxford University (1999)
• Honorary Member, Irish Mathematical Society (2002)
• Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2003)
• Lester R. Ford Award (2005)^[3]
• Von Neumann Medal, US Association for Computational Mechanics (2005)
• Haimo Prize, Mathematical Association of America (2006)
• Su Buchin Prize, International Congress (ICIAM, 2007)
• Henrici Prize (2007)
• National Academy of Sciences (2009)
• Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Toulouse (2010)
• Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (2012)^[4]
• Doctor Honoris Causa, Aalborg University (2013)
• Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2009) ^[5]

Service

• President, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (1999, 2000)^[6]
• Chair, U.S. National Committee on Mathematics (2003–2004)
• Chair, National Science Foundation (NSF) Advisory Panel on Mathematics
• Board Member, International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM)
• Abel Prize Committee (2003–2005)

Publications

Books and monographs

1. Differential Equations and Linear Algebra (Spring 2014) http://math.mit.edu/dela/
2. Essays in Linear Algebra (2012)
3. Algorithms for Global Positioning, with Kai Borre (2012)
4. Computational Science and Engineering (2007)
5. Linear Algebra, Geodesy, and GPS, with Kai Borre (1997)
6. Wavelets and Filter Banks, with Truong Nguyen (1996)
7. Introduction to Linear Algebra (1993, 1998, 2003, 2009, 2016)
8. Calculus (1991, 2010)
9. Linear Algebra and Its Applications (1976, 1980, 1988, 2005)
10. Introduction to Applied Mathematics. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley-Cambridge Press. 1986. pp. xii+758. MR 870634.
11. An Analysis of the Finite Element Method, with George Fix (1973, 2008)

See also

• The Joint spectral radius, introduced by Strang in the early 60s.
• The Strang–Fix condition for accuracy of approximation.
• Strang splitting

References

1. Roselle, D. P. (1977). "Award of the 1977 Chauvenet Prize to Professor Gilbert Strang". The American Mathematical Monthly. 84 (6): 417. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.119.4043. JSTOR 2321898.
2. "MIT announces Professor Gilbert Strang as the first MathWorks Professor of Mathematics". Cambridge, MA: MIT News. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
3. Edelman, Alan; Strang, Gilbert (2004). "Pascal matrices". Amer. Math. Monthly: 361–385.
4. List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society, retrieved 2013-08-05.
5. "SIAM Fellows".
6. "SIAM Presidents".

External links

• Gilbert Strang's Home Page at MIT
• International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics: ICIAM
• Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics: SIAM
• Linear Algebra video lectures by Gilbert Strang, recorded in Fall of 1999
• Highlights of Calculus video lectures by Gilbert Strang on OCW
• Highlights of Calculus video lectures by Gilbert Strang on YouTube
• Mathematical Methods for Engineers I video lectures by Gilbert Strang
• Mathematical Methods for Engineers II video lectures by Gilbert Strang
• Gilbert Strang at the Mathematics Genealogy Project