Arto Salomaa

Arto Salomaa (born June 6, 1934) is a Finnish mathematician and
computer scientist. His research career, which spans over forty years,is focused on formal languages and automata theory.A 2004 citation stated that"Arto is without doubt the founder of automata and formal language theoryin Europe" J. van Leeuwen, The distinguished achievement award:EATCS Award 2004, "Bulletin of the European Association for Theoretical ComputerScience" 84 (2004), 10-11.] .

Early life and education

Salomaa was born in Turku, Finland on June 6, 1934.He earned a Bachelor's degree from University of Turku in 1954and a Ph.D from the same university in 1960. Salomaa's fatherwas a professor of philosophy atthe University of Turku Karhumaki, J. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/inco.1998.2760 A Short Biography of Arto Salomaa] ,"Information and Computation" 151 (1991), 2-4.] .Salomaa was introduced to the theory of automata and formal languagesduring seminars at Berkeley given by
John Myhill in 1957 A. Salomaa,Myhill, Turku and Sauna Poetry: Recollections arising from the EATCS Award,"Bulletin of the European Association for Theoretical ComputerScience" 84 (2004), 12-15.] .

Career

In 1965, Salomaa became a professor of mathematics at the University of Turku,a position he still holds.He also spent two years in the late 1960s at the
University of Western Ontario in London,
Ontario, Canada, and two years in the 1970s at the
University of Aarhus in Aarhus, Denmark. A. Salomaa, Events and Languages in "People and Ideas in Theoretical ComputerScience", C. S. Calude (ed.), pp. 253-273, Springer, 1999.]

Salomaa was president of the European Association forTheoretical Computer Science from 1979 until 1985.

Publications

Salomaa has authored or co-authored 46 textbooks,including "Theory of Automata"(1969), "Formal Languages" (1973), "The Mathematical Theory of
L-Systems" (1980, with Grzegorz Rozenberg),"Jewels of Formal Language Theory" (1981)"Public-Key Cryptography" (1990)and "DNA Computing" (1998, with Grzegorz Rozenberg and Gheorge Paun).With Rozenberg, Salomaa edited "Handbook of Formal Languages" (1997), a3-volume, 2000-page reference on formal language theory.These books have often become standard references in their respective areas.For example, "Formal Languages" was reported in 1991 to be among the 100 most cited textsin mathematics.

Salomaa has also published over 400 articles in scientific journals.These publications include an article entitled"What computer scientists should know about sauna" [A. Salomaa, What computer scientists should know about sauna."Bulletin of the European Association of Theoretical Computer Science" 15 (1981) 8-21.] .

Awards and Recognition

Salomaa has been awarded the title of Academician by the
Academy of FinlandAcademy of Finland, [http://www.aka.fi/modules/page/show_page.asp?id=FEF348E617A5463897724542536DF3DE&tabletarget=data_1&MENU_2_activeclicked=B947BEF98C9E499AA14B391A6C0C15EE&MENU_2_open=false&pid=70983D3C99624961926BACD636146B0A&layout=aka_eng_sisa Academicians] .] , one of twelve living Finnishindividuals awarded the title. He also received the EATCS Award in 2004 .Salomaa has received seven honorary degrees .

Notes

External links

* [http://vanha.math.utu.fi/staff/asalomaa/ Home page of Arto Salomaa.]