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John Edward Hopcroft (born October 7, 1939) is an American theoretical
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 (a ...
. His textbooks on theory of computation (also known as the Cinderella book) and
data structure In computer science, a data structure is a data organization, management, and storage format that is usually chosen for efficient access to data. More precisely, a data structure is a collection of data values, the relationships among them, ...
s are regarded as standards in their fields. He is the IBM Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics in Computer Science at
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 ...
, Co-Director of the Center on Frontiers of Computing Studies at
Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...
, and the Director of the John Hopcroft Center for Computer Science at
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU; ) is a Public university, public research university in Shanghai, Shanghai, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China ...
.


Education

He received his
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...
from
Seattle University Seattle University (SeattleU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington. Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate pro ...
in 1961. He received his
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
and Ph.D. from
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
in 1962 and 1964, respectively. He worked for three years 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 ...
and since then has been at
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 ...
. Hopcroft is the grandson of Jacob Nist, founder of the Seattle-Tacoma Box Company.


Career

In addition to his research work, he is well known for his books on
algorithms 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 ...
and
formal languages In logic, mathematics, computer science, and linguistics, a formal language consists of words whose letters are taken from an alphabet and are well-formed according to a specific set of rules. The alphabet of a formal language consists of sy ...
coauthored with
Jeffrey Ullman Jeffrey David Ullman (born November 22, 1942) is an American computer scientist and the Stanford W. Ascherman Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, at Stanford University. His textbooks on compilers (various editions are popularly known as the d ...
and Alfred Aho, regarded as classic texts in the field. In 1986 he received the
Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in compu ...
(jointly with
Robert Tarjan Robert Endre Tarjan (born April 30, 1948) is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is the discoverer of several graph algorithms, including Tarjan's off-line lowest common ancestors algorithm, and co-inventor of both splay trees ...
) "for fundamental achievements in the design and analysis of algorithms and data structures." Along with his work with Tarjan on
planar graph In graph theory, a planar graph is a graph that can be embedded in the plane, i.e., it can be drawn on the plane in such a way that its edges intersect only at their endpoints. In other words, it can be drawn in such a way that no edges cro ...
s he is also known for the Hopcroft–Karp algorithm for finding matchings in
bipartite graph In the mathematical field of graph theory, a bipartite graph (or bigraph) is a graph whose vertices can be divided into two disjoint and independent sets U and V, that is every edge connects a vertex in U to one in V. Vertex sets U and V a ...
s. In 1994 he was inducted as a
Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
of the
Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional member ...
. In 2005 he received the
Harry H. Goode Memorial Award The Harry H. Goode Memorial Award is an IEEE Computer Society annual awards in honor of Harry H. Goode for achievements in the information processing field which are considered either a single contribution of theory, design, or technique of outsta ...
"for fundamental contributions to the study of algorithms and their applications in information processing." In 2008 he received the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award "for his vision of and impact on computer science, including co-authoring field-defining texts on theory and algorithms, which continue to influence students 40 years later, advising PhD students who themselves are now contributing greatly to computer science, and providing influential leadership in computer science research and education at the national and international level." Hopcroft was elected a member of the
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
in 1989 for fundamental contributions to computer algorithms and for authorship of outstanding computer science textbooks. In 1992, Hopcroft was nominated to the
National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. The NSB also serves as an ind ...
by George H. W. Bush. In 2005, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Sydney, in Sydney, Australia. In 2009, he received an
honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
from
Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics ITMO University (russian: Университет ИТМО) is a state-supported university in Saint Petersburg and is one of Russia's National Research Universities. ITMO University is one of 15 Russian universities that were selected to particip ...
. In 2017,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU; ) is a Public university, public research university in Shanghai, Shanghai, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China ...
launched a John Hopcroft Center for Computer Science. In 2020 the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen opened a Hopcroft Institute for Advanced Information Sciences and designated him as an Einstein professor. Hopcroft is also the co-recipient (with
Jeffrey Ullman Jeffrey David Ullman (born November 22, 1942) is an American computer scientist and the Stanford W. Ascherman Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, at Stanford University. His textbooks on compilers (various editions are popularly known as the d ...
) of the 2010 IEEE John von Neumann Medal “for laying the foundations for the fields of automata and language theory and many seminal contributions to theoretical computer science.”


Awards

* 1986.
Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in compu ...
* 1989.
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
Member * 1994. ACM Fellow * 2005.
Harry H. Goode Memorial Award The Harry H. Goode Memorial Award is an IEEE Computer Society annual awards in honor of Harry H. Goode for achievements in the information processing field which are considered either a single contribution of theory, design, or technique of outsta ...
* 2008. Karl Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award * 2010. IEEE John von Neumann Medal * 2016. Friendship Award (China)


Selected publications

; Books * 2017.
Foundations of Data Science
'. (with
Avrim Blum Avrim Blum (born 27 May 1966) is a computer scientist. In 2007, he was made a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery "for contributions to learning theory and algorithms." Blum attended MIT, where he received his Ph.D. in 1991 under pr ...
and
Ravindran Kannan Ravindran Kannan ( ta, ரவீந்திரன் கண்ணன்; born 12 March 1953, Madras) is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research India, where he leads the algorithms research group. He is also the first adjunct faculty of ...
) * 2001. J.E. Hopcroft, Rajeev Motwani, Jeffrey D. Ullman, '' Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation'' Second Edition. Addison-Wesley. * 1983. Alfred V. Aho, J.E. Hopcroft, Jeffrey D. Ullman, ''Data Structures and Algorithms'', Addison-Wesley Series in Computer Science and Information Processing. * 1974. Alfred V. Aho, J.E. Hopcroft, Jeffrey D. Ullman, ''The Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms'', Addison-Wesley Series in Computer Science and Information Processing. * 1969. '' Formal Languages and Their Relation to Automata''. (with Jeffrey D. Ullman), Addison-Wesley, Reading MA.


References


External links


John E. Hopcroft at Cornell University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopcroft, John American computer scientists 1939 births Living people Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Turing Award laureates Cornell University faculty Stanford University alumni Seattle University alumni 20th-century American engineers 21st-century American engineers 20th-century American scientists 21st-century American scientists Computer science educators American textbook writers American electrical engineers