School of Information Science - Hall of Fame

Donald Knuth
  • Donald Knuth
  • Born: January 10, 1938
  • Field: Computer science
  • Focus: Achieved fame for publications on computer science and algorithms. Developed the TeX typesetting system.
  • Country: United States
  • Era: 1970 to 1989

Donald Knuth is best known for authoring one of the most respected references in the computer science field, "The Art of Computer Programming." He has also worked in the fields of the theoretical computer science and the analysis of algorithms. Knuth is the creator of the TeX typesetting system and of the Metafont font design system. He is considered to be a pioneer in the concept of literate programming.

In 1968 Knuth joined the faculty of Stanford University and is a Professor Emeritus of the Art of Computer Programming. He was the recipient of the first ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award in 1971. He has also received the Turing Award, the National Medal of Science, the John von Neumann Medal and the Kyoto Prize. Knuth earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Case Western Reserve University and his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1963.

Knuth stopped using email on January 1, 1990. He started using email in 1975 and decided that period of time was long enough to be using it.

Related Links

www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/faq.html

www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/email.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knuth-Morris-Pratt_algorithm

Bibliography

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Knuth