Dr. Leslie F. Greengard is 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 ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and computer scientist. He is co-inventor with Vladimir Rokhlin Jr. of the

fast multipole method __NOTOC__ The fast multipole method (FMM) is a numerical technique that was developed to speed up the calculation of long-ranged forces in the ''n''-body problem. It does this by expanding the system Green's function using a multipole expansion, w ...

(FMM) in 1987, recognized as one of the top-ten

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 ...

of the 20th century. Greengard was elected as 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 2006 for work on the development of algorithms and software for fast multipole methods.

Short biography

Leslie Greengard was born in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, but grew up in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

(1979), an M.D. from the

Yale School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary te ...

(1987), and a Ph.D. in

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 ...

from

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 ...

(1987). From 2006-2011, Greengard was director of the

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU), and is among the most prestigious mathematics schools and mathematical sciences research cente ...

, an independent division of the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

(NYU) and is currently a professor of mathematics and

at Courant. He is also a professor at

New York University Tandon School of Engineering The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United Sta ...

and the director of the Simons Center for Data Analysis. He formerly served as the Director at the Center for Computational Biology at the

Flatiron Institute The Flatiron Institute is an internal research division of the Simons Foundation, launched in 2016. It comprises five centers for computational science: the Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA); the Center for Computational Biology (CCB); ...

. , he has assumed the directorship of the new Center of Computational Mathematics at the Institute. He is the son of neuroscientist

Paul Greengard Paul Greengard (December 11, 1925 – April 13, 2019) was an American neuroscientist best known for his work on the molecular and cellular function of neurons. In 2000, Greengard, Arvid Carlsson and Eric Kandel were awarded the Nobel Prize for ...

and the nephew of Irene Kane, later known as

Chris Chase Chris Chase (born Irene Greengard; January 12, 1924 – October 31, 2013), also known by the stage name Irene Kane, was an American model, film actress, writer, and journalist.Miller, Betty Jean. (April 1, 1975). "Writing brings fame for Chris Ch ...

, an actress, writer, and journalist.

Awards and honors

* 2016, fellow of 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 ...

* 2014
Von Neumann Lecture
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics * 2011,

Wilbur Cross Medal The Wilbur Cross Medal, or Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal for Alumni Achievement, is an award by the Yale University Graduate School Alumni Association to recognize "...distinguished achievements in scholarship, teaching, academic administration, and p ...

* 2010, Plenary Speaker, SIAM Annual Meeting * 2010, "National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship", from the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

(DoD) * 2006, elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering * 2006, elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences * 2005, Plenary Speaker, 2nd National Congress on Applied and Industrial Mathematics (France) * 2004, "Margaret and Herman Sokol Faculty Award in the Sciences" from the

* 2001, Leroy P. Steele Prize for Seminal Contribution to Research from the

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, ...

(together with Vladimir Rokhlin), for their paper describing a new algorithm: the

(FMM) * 2000, Plenary Speaker, SIAM Conference on Computational Science & Engineering * 1999, Plenary Speaker, International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics * 1998, Invited Speaker, International Congress of Mathematicians * 1990, "Fellowship for Science and Engineering" from the

Packard Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. It was created in 1964 by David Packard (co-founder of HP) and his wife Lucile Salter Packard. Following David Packard's death ...

* 1990,

Presidential Young Investigator Award The Presidential Young Investigator Award (PYI) was awarded by the National Science Foundation of the United States Federal Government. The program operated from 1984 to 1991, and was replaced by the NSF Young Investigator (NYI) Awards and Presiden ...

from the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

* 1987–1989, "Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship" from the

* 1987, Council of Graduate Schools/

University Microfilms International ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, providi ...

Distinguished Dissertation Award, for his PhD. dissertation "The Rapid Evaluation of Potential Fields in Particle Systems" * 1987, "Doctoral Dissertation Award", Series Winner from the Association for Computing Machinery * 1987, Sandoz Thesis Award from the

* 1979–1986,

Public Health Service In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

– National Research Service Award

Medical Scientist Training Program The Medical Scientist Training Programs (MSTPs) are dual-degree training programs that streamline the education towards both clinical (typically MD) and research doctoral degrees. MSTPs are offered by some United States medical schools, who are aw ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greengard, Leslie 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Jewish American scientists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering British emigrants to the United States Living people Wesleyan University alumni Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences faculty Scientists from New York City Year of birth missing (living people) Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Mathematicians from New York (state) 21st-century American Jews