Bernard Chazelle (born November 5, 1955) is a French-American computer scientist. He is currently the
Eugene Higgins Professor of
Computer Science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...
at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. Much of his work is in
computational geometry, where he is known for his study of algorithms, such as
linear-time
In computer science, the time complexity is the computational complexity that describes the amount of computer time it takes to run an algorithm. Time complexity is commonly estimated by counting the number of elementary operations performed by ...
triangulation of a
simple polygon
In geometry, a simple polygon is a polygon that does not intersect itself and has no holes. That is, it is a flat shape consisting of straight, non-intersecting line segments or "sides" that are joined pairwise to form a single closed path. If ...
, as well as major complexity results, such as
lower bound
In mathematics, particularly in order theory, an upper bound or majorant of a subset of some preordered set is an element of that is greater than or equal to every element of .
Dually, a lower bound or minorant of is defined to be an eleme ...
techniques based on
discrepancy theory
In mathematics, discrepancy theory describes the deviation of a situation from the state one would like it to be in. It is also called the theory of irregularities of distribution. This refers to the theme of ''classical'' discrepancy theory, name ...
.
He is also known for his invention of the
soft heap
In computer science, a soft heap is a variant on the simple heap data structure that has constant amortized time complexity for 5 types of operations. This is achieved by carefully "corrupting" (increasing) the keys of at most a constant number ...
data structure and the most
asymptotically efficient known algorithm for finding
minimum spanning tree
A minimum spanning tree (MST) or minimum weight spanning tree is a subset of the edges of a connected, edge-weighted undirected graph that connects all the vertices together, without any cycles and with the minimum possible total edge weight. T ...
s.
Early life
Chazelle was born in
Clamart
Clamart () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.
The town is divided into two parts, separated by a forest: ''bas Clamart'', the historical centre, and ''petit Clamart'' with urbaniz ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, the son of Marie-Claire (née Blanc) and Jean Chazelle. He grew up in
Paris, France
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, where he received his bachelor's degree and master's degree in
applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathemati ...
at the
École des mines de Paris
Mines Paris - PSL, officially École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris (until May 2022 Mines ParisTech, also known as École des mines de Paris, ENSMP, Mines de Paris, les Mines, or Paris School of Mines), is a French grande école and a c ...
in 1977. Then, at the age of 21, he attended
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in the United States, where he received his PhD in computer science in 1980 under the supervision of
David P. Dobkin.
Career
Chazelle accepted professional appointments at institutions such as
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...
,
NEC
is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...
,
Xerox PARC
PARC (Palo Alto Research Center; formerly Xerox PARC) is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 1969 by Jacob E. "Jack" Goldman, chief scientist of Xerox Corporation, the company was originally a division of Xero ...
, the
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
, and the Paris institutions
École normale supérieure
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, S ...
,
École polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
,
Inria
The National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (Inria) () is a French national research institution focusing on computer science and applied mathematics.
It was created under the name ''Institut de recherche en informatiq ...
, and
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...
. He is a fellow of the
ACM, the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
, the
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and
NEC
is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...
, as well as a member of the European Academy of Sciences. He has also written essays about music and politics.
[Profile](_blank)
princeton.edu; accessed February 16, 2017.
Personal life
Chazelle is married to
Celia Chazelle
Celia Martin Chazelle (born April 7, 1954) is a Canadian-American historian and author. She is a professor of history at The College of New Jersey.
Early life and education
Celia Martin was born in California on April 7, 1954, to an English fath ...
. He is the father of director
Damien Chazelle, the youngest person in history to win an
Academy Award for Best Director, and Anna Chazelle, an entertainer.
Works
*
References
External links
Bernard Chazelleat
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chazelle, Bernard
1955 births
Living people
French computer scientists
American computer scientists
Researchers in geometric algorithms
Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery
Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Princeton University faculty
People from Clamart
French emigrants to the United States
Carnegie Mellon University faculty