Delbert Ray Fulkerson
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Delbert Ray Fulkerson (; August 14, 1924 – January 10, 1976) was an American
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 ...
who co-developed the FordFulkerson algorithm, one of the most well-known
algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...
s to solve the
maximum flow problem In optimization theory, maximum flow problems involve finding a feasible flow through a flow network that obtains the maximum possible flow rate. The maximum flow problem can be seen as a special case of more complex network flow problems, such ...
in
network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...
s.


Early life and education

D. R. Fulkerson was born in Tamms, Illinois, the third of six children of Elbert and Emma Fulkerson. Fulkerson became an undergraduate at
Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...
. His academic career was interrupted by military service during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Having returned to complete his degree after the war, he went on to do a
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in mathematics at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison 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 Stat ...
under the supervision of Cyrus MacDuffee, who was a student of
L. E. Dickson Leonard Eugene Dickson (January 22, 1874 – January 17, 1954) was an American mathematician. He was one of the first American researchers in abstract algebra, in particular the theory of finite fields and classical groups, and is also reme ...
. Fulkerson received his Ph.D. in 1951.


Career

After graduation, Fulkerson joined the mathematics department at the RAND Corporation. In 1956, he and
L. R. Ford Jr. Lester Randolph Ford Jr. (September 23, 1927 – February 26, 2017) was an American mathematician specializing in network flow problems. He was the son of mathematician Lester R. Ford Sr. Ford's paper with D. R. Fulkerson on the maximum flow p ...
described the Ford–Fulkerson algorithm. In 1962 they produced a book-length description of their method. In 1971 he moved to
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
as the Maxwell Upson Professor of Engineering. He was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and was limited in his teaching. In despair, he committed suicide in 1976. Fulkerson was the supervisor of
Jon Folkman Jon Hal Folkman (December 8, 1938 – January 23, 1969) was an American mathematician, a student of John Milnor, and a researcher at the RAND Corporation. Schooling Folkman was a Putnam Fellow in 1960. He received his Ph.D. in 1964 from Pr ...
at RAND and Tatsuo Oyama at GRIPS. After Folkman committed suicide in 1969, Fulkerson blamed himself for failing to notice Folkman's suicidal behaviors.. In 1979, the renowned
Fulkerson Prize The Fulkerson Prize for outstanding papers in the area of discrete mathematics is sponsored jointly by the Mathematical Optimization Society (MOS) and the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Up to three awards of $1,500 each are presented at e ...
was established which is now awarded every three years for outstanding papers in discrete mathematics jointly by the
Mathematical Programming Society The Mathematical Optimization Society (MOS), known as the Mathematical Programming Society until 2010,American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...
.


See also

*
Out-of-kilter algorithm The out-of-kilter algorithm is an algorithm that computes the solution to the minimum-cost flow problem in a flow network In graph theory, a flow network (also known as a transportation network) is a directed graph where each edge has a capacity ...
* List of people diagnosed with Crohn's disease


References


External links


Delbert Ray Fulkerson prizeFulkerson biography at Cornell
*
Biography of D. R. Fulkerson
from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulkerson, D. R. 20th-century American mathematicians Combinatorialists 1924 births 1976 suicides University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni RAND Corporation people People from Alexander County, Illinois Mathematicians from Illinois 1976 deaths People with Crohn's disease Suicides in New York (state)