Hans Leo Bodlaender (born April 21, 1960) is a Dutch

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 ...

, a professor of computer science at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. Bodlaender is known for his work on

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 ...

s and

parameterized complexity In computer science, parameterized complexity is a branch of computational complexity theory that focuses on classifying computational problems according to their inherent difficulty with respect to ''multiple'' parameters of the input or output. T ...

and in particular for algorithms relating to

tree decomposition In graph theory, a tree decomposition is a mapping of a graph into a tree that can be used to define the treewidth of the graph and speed up solving certain computational problems on the graph. Tree decompositions are also called junction trees ...

of graphs.

Life and work

Born in

Bennekom Bennekom is a village and parish in the Netherlands, which is part of the Municipality of Ede in the south-west of the Veluwe district of the Province of Gelderland. It adjoins the town of Wageningen on the Lower-Rhine to the south, and Ede to ...

, Bodlaender was educated at Utrecht University, earning a doctorate in 1986 under the supervision of

Jan van Leeuwen Jan van Leeuwen (born December 17, 1946, in Waddinxveen) is a Dutch computer scientist and Emeritus professor of computer science at the Department of Information and Computing Sciences at Utrecht University.

with the thesis ''Distributed Computing – Structure and Complexity.'' After

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in 1987, he returned to Utrecht as a faculty member. In 1987 he was appointed Assistant Professor and in 2003 Associate Professor. In 2014 he became full professor of algorithms and complexity at Utrecht, and at the same time added a part-time professorship in network algorithms at

Eindhoven University of Technology The Eindhoven University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven), abbr. TU/e, is a public technical university in the Netherlands, located in the city of Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its BSc a ...

. Bodlaender has written extensively about

chess variant A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways. "International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...

s and founded the website ''

The Chess Variant Pages ''The Chess Variant Pages'' is a non-commercial website devoted to chess variants. It was created by Hans Bodlaender in 1995. The site is "run by hobbyists for hobbyists" and is "the most wide-ranging and authoritative web site on chess variants". ...

'' in 1995.

Recognition

In 2014 he was awarded the

Nerode Prize The EATCS–IPEC Nerode Prize is a theoretical computer science prize awarded for outstanding research in the area of multivariate algorithmics. It is awarded by the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science and the International Symp ...

for an outstanding paper in the area of multivariate algorithmics, for his work with

Rod Downey Rodney Graham Downey (born 20 September 1957) is a New Zealand and Australian mathematician and computer scientist,. a professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.Michael Fellows Michael Ralph Fellows AC HFRSNZ MAE (born June 15, 1952 in Upland, California) is a computer scientist and the Elite Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Informatics at the University of Bergen, Norway as of January 2016. Biograph ...

, and Danny Hermelin on

kernelization In computer science, a kernelization is a technique for designing efficient algorithms that achieve their efficiency by a preprocessing stage in which inputs to the algorithm are replaced by a smaller input, called a "kernel". The result of solvi ...

. A

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

, ''Treewidth, Kernels, and Algorithms: Essays Dedicated to Hans L. Bodlaender on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday'', was published in 2020.

Selected publications

* * *

References

External links

Hans L. Bodlaender
at Utrecht University * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodlaender, Hans Leo 1960 births Living people Dutch computer scientists Theoretical computer scientists Graph theorists Utrecht University alumni Utrecht University faculty Eindhoven University of Technology faculty People from Ede, Netherlands