Franco P. Preparata
Encyclopedia
Franco P. Preparata is a computer scientist
, the An Wang
Professor of Computer Science at Brown University
. He is best known for his 1985 computational geometry
book with Michael Shamos
, for many years the standard textbook in the field, but Preparata has worked in many other areas of computer science: his initial work was on coding theory
, and his 1981 paper in distributed computing describing the cube-connected cycles
computer communications network is still highly cited, as is his 1967 paper on fault diagnosis. His 1991 paper with Zhou and Kang on interconnection delays in VLSI was awarded the 1993 "Darlington Best Paper Award" by the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society
, and he has attracted media coverage for his more recent work in computational biology
.
Preparata was born in Italy in December, 1935. He received a doctorate from the University of Rome
in 1959. After a postdoctorate at CNR
and several years of working in industry he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
in 1965, where he stayed for many years, advising 16 Ph.D. students there. He received his Italian Libera Docenza in 1969. In 1991, Preparata moved from Illinois to Brown University
where he has remained active in research and student advising. In 1997, the University of Padova awarded Preparata an honorary doctorate. Preparata is an ACM Fellow, an IEEE Fellow, and a Fellow of the Japan Society for the Advancement of Science.
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
, the An Wang
An Wang
Dr. An Wang was a Chinese American computer engineer and inventor, and co-founder of computer company Wang Laboratories.-Early life and career:...
Professor of Computer Science at Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. He is best known for his 1985 computational geometry
Computational geometry
Computational geometry is a branch of computer science devoted to the study of algorithms which can be stated in terms of geometry. Some purely geometrical problems arise out of the study of computational geometric algorithms, and such problems are also considered to be part of computational...
book with Michael Shamos
Michael Ian Shamos
Michael Ian Shamos is an American mathematician, attorney, book author, journal editor, consultant and company director. He is Michael Ian Shamos (born April 21, 1947, and often referred to as Mike Shamos) is an American mathematician, attorney, book author, journal editor, consultant and company...
, for many years the standard textbook in the field, but Preparata has worked in many other areas of computer science: his initial work was on coding theory
Coding theory
Coding theory is the study of the properties of codes and their fitness for a specific application. Codes are used for data compression, cryptography, error-correction and more recently also for network coding...
, and his 1981 paper in distributed computing describing the cube-connected cycles
Cube-connected cycles
In graph theory, the cube-connected cycles is an undirected cubic graph, formed by replacing each vertex of a hypercube graph by a cycle. It was introduced by for use as a network topology in parallel computing.- Definition :...
computer communications network is still highly cited, as is his 1967 paper on fault diagnosis. His 1991 paper with Zhou and Kang on interconnection delays in VLSI was awarded the 1993 "Darlington Best Paper Award" by the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society
IEEE Circuits and Systems Society
The IEEE Circuits and Systems Society is a society of the IEEE. It is also known by the acronym IEEE CASS. In the hierarchy of IEEE, the Circuits and Systems Society is one of close to 40 technical societies organized under the IEEE's Technical Activities Board.From the , the field of interest of...
, and he has attracted media coverage for his more recent work in computational biology
Computational biology
Computational biology involves the development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavioral, and social systems...
.
Preparata was born in Italy in December, 1935. He received a doctorate from the University of Rome
University of Rome La Sapienza
The Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...
in 1959. After a postdoctorate at CNR
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
The Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche or National Research Council, is an Italian public organization set up to support scientific and technological research. Its headquarters are in Rome.-History:The institution was founded in 1923...
and several years of working in industry he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
in 1965, where he stayed for many years, advising 16 Ph.D. students there. He received his Italian Libera Docenza in 1969. In 1991, Preparata moved from Illinois to Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
where he has remained active in research and student advising. In 1997, the University of Padova awarded Preparata an honorary doctorate. Preparata is an ACM Fellow, an IEEE Fellow, and a Fellow of the Japan Society for the Advancement of Science.
Selected bibliography
- Franco P. Preparata, Raymond T. Yeh, Introduction to Discrete Structures for Computer Science and Engineering (Addison-Wesley series in computer science and information processing), 1973, ISBN 0201059681
External links
- Preparata's home page and curriculum vitae at Brown.
- Franco Fest 2006, a conference held in honor of Preparata's 70th birthday.