Charles Joseph Colbourn (born October 24, 1953) is a Canadian

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

, whose research concerns

graph algorithm The following is a list of well-known algorithms along with one-line descriptions for each. Automated planning Combinatorial algorithms General combinatorial algorithms * Brent's algorithm: finds a cycle in function value iterations using on ...

combinatorial design Combinatorial design theory is the part of combinatorial mathematics that deals with the existence, construction and properties of systems of finite sets whose arrangements satisfy generalized concepts of ''balance'' and/or ''symmetry''. These co ...

s, and their applications. From 1996 to 2001 he was the Dorothean Professor of Computer Science at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

; since then he has been a professor of Computer Science and Engineering at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

.Curriculum vitae
from Colbourn's web site, retrieved 2011-03-26. Colbourn was born on October 24, 1953, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

; despite working in the United States since 1996 he retains his Canadian citizenship. He did his undergraduate studies at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, graduating in 1976; after a master's degree at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...

, he returned to Toronto for a Ph.D., which he received in 1980 under the supervision of

Derek Corneil Derek Gordon Corneil is a Canadian mathematician and computer scientist, a professor ''emeritus'' of computer science at the University of Toronto, and an expert in graph algorithms and graph theory. Life When he was leaving high school, Corneil ...

. He has held faculty positions at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, University of Waterloo, University of Vermont, and Arizona State University, as well as visiting positions at several other universities. He has been one of three editors-in-chief of the ''Journal of Combinatorial Designs'' since 1992. In 2004, the

Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications The Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications (ICA) is an international scientific organization formed in 1990 to increase the visibility and influence of the combinatorial community. In pursuit of this goal, the ICA sponsors conferences, ...

named Colbourn as that year's winner of their

Euler Medal The Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications (ICA) is an international scientific organization formed in 1990 to increase the visibility and influence of the combinatorial community. In pursuit of this goal, the ICA sponsors conferences, ...

for lifetime achievements in

combinatorics Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and an end in obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many appl ...

.''Bulletin of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications'', volumes 43–45, 2005; ''Proceedings of the 36th Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computing'', Congressus Numerantium 172–173, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colbourn, Charles Joseph 1953 births Living people Arizona State University faculty Canadian mathematicians Canadian computer scientists Graph theorists Scientists from Toronto University of Toronto alumni University of Waterloo alumni Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan Academic staff of the University of Waterloo University of Vermont faculty