David A. Huffman

David A. Huffman
Born	August 9, 1925(1925-08-09) Ohio
Died	October 7, 1999(1999-10-07) (aged 74) Santa Cruz, California
Residence	USA
Fields	Information theory, Coding theory
Alma mater	Ohio State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Doctoral advisor	Samuel H. Caldwell
Known for	Huffman coding

David Albert Huffman (August 9, 1925 – October 7, 1999) was a pioneer in computer science. He is well-known for his Huffman coding.^[1][2] David Huffman died at the age of 74 after a 10-month battle with cancer.

Education

Huffman earned in 1944 his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Ohio State University and served then two years as officer in the United States Navy. He went back to Ohio State to earn in 1949 his master’s degree in electrical engineering. In 1953 he collected his Doctor of Science in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with the thesis The Synthesis of Sequential Switching Circuits, advised by Samuel H. Caldwell.^[1][2][3]

Awards and honors

• 1999: The IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal.^[4]
• 1998: A Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation from the IEEE Information Theory Society, for "the invention of the Huffman minimum-length lossless data-compression code".^[5]
• 1981: Charter recipient of the Computer Pioneer Award from the IEEE Computer Society.^[6]
• 1973: The W. Wallace McDowell Award from the IEEE Computer Society.^[7]
• 1955: The Louis E. Levy Medal from the Franklin Institute for his doctoral thesis on sequential switching circuits.^[3][8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Gary Stix (September 1991). "Profile: Information Theorist David A. Huffman". Scientific American (Nature Publishing Group) 265 (3): pp.54–58. http://www.huffmancoding.com/my-family/my-uncle/scientific-american. Retrieved July 13, 2011 (2011-07-13). 
2. ^ ^{a b} Stephens, Tim; Burns, Jim (October 11, 1999 (1999-10-11)). "Eminent UCSC computer scientist David Huffman dies at age 74". Currents Online. University of California, Santa Cruz. http://www1.ucsc.edu/currents/99-00/10-11/huffman.html. Retrieved July 13, 2011 (2011-07-13). 
3. ^ ^{a b} David Albert Huffman at the Mathematics Genealogy Project.
4. ^ "IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal Recipients". IEEE. http://www.ieee.org/documents/hamming_rl.pdf. Retrieved July 12, 2011 (2011-07-12). 
5. ^ "Golden Jubilee Awards for Technological Innovation". IEEE Information Theory Society. http://www.itsoc.org/honors/golden-jubilee-awards-for-technological-innovation. Retrieved July 14, 2011 (2011-07-14). 
6. ^ "Computer Pioneer Charter Recipients". IEEE Computer Society. http://www.computer.org/portal/web/awards/pioneer#_118_tabs_WAR_pluginsui_INSTANCE_d0QT_tab2. Retrieved July 13, 2011 (2011-07-13). 
7. ^ "Past recipients for W. Wallace McDowell Award". IEEE Computer Society. http://www.computer.org/portal/web/awards/wallace#_118_tabs_WAR_pluginsui_INSTANCE_RAqi_tab1. Retrieved July 13, 2011 (2011-07-13). 
8. ^ "Franklin Laureate Database - Louis E. Levy Medal Laureates". Franklin Institute. http://www.fi.edu/winners/show_results.faw?gs=&ln=&fn=&keyword=&subject=&award=LEVY+&sy=1923&ey=1999&name=Submit. Retrieved July 12, 2011 (2011-07-12). 

External links

• Huffman, Ken (April 9, 2010 (2010-04-09)). "My Uncle". Huffman Coding. http://www.huffmancoding.com/david-huffman/my-uncle. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
• Haeberli, Paul (November 1996 (1996-11)). "Geometric Paper Folding: Dr. David Huffman". GRAFICA Obscura. http://www.graficaobscura.com/huffman/index.html. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
• Wertheim, Margaret (June 22, 2004). "Cones, Curves, Shells, Towers: He Made Paper Jump to Life". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/22/science/cones-curves-shells-towers-he-made-paper-jump-to-life.html. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 

Persondata
Name	Huffman, David A.
Alternative names
Short description	Computer scientist known for Huffman coding
Date of birth	August 9, 1925
Place of birth	Ohio
Date of death	October 7, 1999
Place of death	Santa Cruz, California