He has contributed to significant advances in computer science through rigorous scholarship and peer review as an editor for ten journals and book series.
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN, June 06, 2024 /24-7PressRelease/ — Alex Pothen has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who. As in all Marquis Who’s Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Dr. Pothen has established himself as a preeminent figure in computer science and applied mathematics over a distinguished 40-year career. Well-regarded as the founding Chair of the Applied and Computational Discrete Algorithms Activity Group within the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, he is a professor of computer science at Purdue University. He has designed algorithms to solve scientific problems on the most powerful supercomputers available today, capable of a quintillion operations in a second, by participating in the U.S. Exascale Computing Project and the U.S. Petascale Computing Project, with the funding of the U.S. Department of Energy, for the past twenty years. His daily responsibilities encompass conducting groundbreaking research with graduate students and postdoctoral scientists, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, leading the scientific communities he participates in, and serving as an editor for several prestigious journals and book series.
Before his tenure at Purdue University, Dr. Pothen contributed his expertise to several other esteemed institutions. His career journey includes positions at Penn State, the University of Waterloo, Old Dominion University, and ICASE, a NASA Langley Research Center. In addition to his primary roles, he has contributed to significant advances in computer science through rigorous scholarship and peer review as an editor for ten journals and book series, including the Journal of the ACM, SIAM Review, SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing, and SIAM Books.
Dr. Pothen’s professional affiliations reflect his standing in the scientific community. He is a long-standing member of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the American Mathematical Society. Furthermore, he has played an instrumental role in organizing several scientific conferences and symposia.
In 2021, Dr. Pothen was awarded the George Pólya Prize in Applied Combinatorics by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics for his work in developing algorithms and software for graph coloring problems to enable the solution of nonlinear optimization problems. He was also named a Fellow of three professional societies: the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 2018, the Association for Computing Machinery in 2022, and most recently, the American Mathematical Society in 2024.
Dr. Pothen credits his success to the foundational education he received from exceptional educators throughout his academic career, beginning with his mother at home. Having earned a Master of Science in Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 1978, he received a Doctor of Philosophy in applied mathematics at Cornell University in 1984.
Beyond his professional life, Dr. Pothen finds joy in reading, spending time with his family, friends, and international students, and serving in his local church. Looking ahead, he is committed to continuing his pioneering research in computer science and applied mathematics alongside his students to make impactful contributions that improve lives.
About Marquis Who’s Who®:
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who’s Who in America®, Marquis Who’s Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who’s Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who’s Who® website, www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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