George Bernard Danzig - American mathematician; developed a simplex method, an algorithm for solving problems involving many conditions and variables, and in the process founded the field of linear programming. The author of outstanding scientific works and the winner of several awards.
Biography
George Danzig (November 8, 1914 - May 13, 2004) was born in Portland, Oregon, USA. His father, Tobias, was a mathematician of Russian origin, studied with Henri Poincaré in Paris. Then, at the Sorbonne University, he worked as a professor of mathematics and began a relationship with his student, Anya Urisson. After some time, they got married and emigrated to the United States. Their firstborn was George.
In Danzig's youth, his father served as director of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Maryland, but resigned at the end of World War II. Anya was a linguist and specialized in Slavic languages.
Study
George Danzig (photo in the article) entered the University of Maryland to study mathematics. There he received a bachelor's degree. However, he was never satisfied with the teaching methods used by this university. In 1937, Danzig began working at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He was so passionate about work that he entered the University of Berkeley, where he also felt that the courses were too simple and even meaningless. This made him think about dropping out of college.
While attending a lesson in 1939, Professor Jerzy Neumann wrote on the board two complex statistical problems that needed to be solved. Late for classes, George Danzig took them for their homework. In his own words, the tasks were difficult, but after a few days he was able to provide an answer.
Professor Jerzy Neumann admired the intelligence of mathematician George Danzig and suggested publishing his solution in a mathematical journal. A few years later, another researcher, Abraham Wald, supplemented and published his article in which he explained the conclusion of the second problem. Danzig was included as a co-author. The solution to these problems at the suggestion of Professor Neumann formed the basis of his doctoral dissertation. However, he wrote it intermittently.
Work in the Armed Forces
Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, George Danzig interrupted his scientific work, having left to serve in the US Air Force. He collaborated with the Department of Statistical Control of Combat Analysis. He soon returned and completed the final stage of his doctoral dissertation. After that, he again joined the army, where he took up the post of adviser in mathematics to the controller of the US Air Force.
He became the head of the Combat Analysis Division of the US Air Force Statistical Headquarters. This work prompted him to perform great mathematical feats, since the Air Force needed to calculate the duration of the stages of the deployment, training and logistics program in the most optimal and efficient way. Although he spent a lot of time on these calculations, this work was of great importance, because thanks to it in 1947 he proposed a simplex method for solving linear programming problems.
Ideas development
In 1952, George Danzig was engaged in mathematical research at RAND Corporation, where he focused on linear programming on the computers of the corporation. Success at that time was great, and he continued to do similar work at the universities of Berkeley and Stanford in California, as well as at centers such as the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Vienna. During this last work, he made improvements to solving linear programming problems.
Scientific developments
On October 3, 1947, at the Institute for Advanced Study, George Danzig met with John von Neumann, who is considered one of the best mathematicians in the world. Neumann told him about the Game Theory, which was still under development and was conducted jointly with Oscar Morgenstern. This was very important, because on the basis of acquired knowledge he, together with Fulkerson and Johnson, developed the theory of duality in 1954.
On the other hand, he worked on a bifurcation method, which was used in programming to solve large problems. He was responsible for stochastic programming, which focuses on mathematical programming problems containing random variables. His knowledge and contributions were reflected in two of his books: Linear Programming and Extensions (1963) and a two-volume book: Linear Programming (1997 and 2003), written with N. Tapa.
Awards and prizes
He received several awards for his great work and contribution to the development of the armed forces of his country. In 1976, President Gerald Ford presented Danzig with the National Science Medal, and his work was awarded during an important ceremony at the White House, where his invention of linear programming, which enabled the efficient use of mathematical theory, was recognized.
In 1975, he also received the John von Neumann Theory Prize, as well as the 1977 Prize in Applied Mathematics and Numerical Analysis. In Israel, he was awarded the Harvey Science and Technology Award from the Technion in 1985. The Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering of the United States recognized his contribution by offering him membership in society. In his honor, an award was created by the Society for Mathematical Programming and SIAM.
Death
In the last years of his life, he had health problems associated with diabetes and a disease of the cardiovascular system. On May 13, 2004, George Bernard Danzig passed away at the age of 90, surrounded by his family at his Stanford residence.