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Richard A. Tapia

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Richard A. Tapia
Born(1938-03-25)March 25, 1938(age 86)
Santa Monica, California
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles(B.A., M.A., Ph.D.)
Known forMathematical optimization
AwardsPresidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring,National Medal of Science
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsRice University
ThesisA Generalization of Newton's Method with an Application to the Euler-Lagrange Equation
Doctoral advisorMagnus Hestenes
Charles Brown Tompkins
Doctoral studentsJorge Nocedal

Richard Alfred Tapia(born March 25, 1938) is an American mathematician and University Professor atRice UniversityinHouston, Texas,the university's highest academic title.[1][2]In 2011,President Obamaawarded Tapia theNational Medal of Science.[3]He is currently the Maxfield and Oshman Professor of Engineering; Associate Director of Graduate Studies, Office of Research and Graduate Studies; and Director of the Center for Excellence and Equity in Education at Rice University.[4]

Tapia's mathematical research is focused onmathematical optimizationanditerative methodsfornonlinearproblems. His current research is in the area ofalgorithmsforconstrainedoptimization andinterior point methodsforlinearand nonlinear programming.

Biography[edit]

Tapia was born inSanta Monica, Californiato parents, Amado and Magda, who both emigrated to the United States from Mexico.[5]His father worked for Japanese Americanhorticulturistsin southern California.[6]

He married Jean Tapia,[7]a Newyorrican (daughter of Puerto Rican who grew up in New York) and had 2 children: Circee and Richard[8]


Education[edit]

He received his B.A. in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1961.

He then earned his M.A. in mathematics, also from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1966.

He received his Ph.D. fromUniversity of California, Los Angeles,1967 in mathematics with the dissertation: "A Generalization ofNewton's Methodwith an Application to theEuler–Lagrange Equation"[9]under the advisors:Magnus Hestenes,Charles Tompkins[10]

Tapia also holds honorary doctorates fromCarnegie Mellon Universityand theColorado School of Mines.[11]

Career[edit]

In 2004, he received theSociety for Industrial and Applied Mathematics(SIAM) Prize for Distinguished Service to the Profession, in Portland, andDistinguished Public Service Award,American Mathematical Society,in Phoenix.[12]

In 2009, he receivedHispanic Heritage Award in Math and Scienceand he was chosen to have a "Celebration of Diversity in Computing" [conference][13]named after him (usually held annually or biennially[14]).[15]

In 2014, theBlackwell-Tapia prizeand conference were named for Tapia andDavid Blackwell.

In 2021, he received the award Fellow of the American Mathematical Society.[16]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Award #0634516 — Empowering Leadership: Computing Scholars of Tomorrow".National Science Foundation.March 1, 2007.Retrieved2009-06-06.Tapia is thePrincipal investigatoron a $2 million NSF grant (2007-2010) addressing networking for a "minority student or faculty at a majority institution".
  2. ^"Tapia promoted to University Professor: Hispanic pioneer earns university's top academic title"(Press release). Rice University. October 14, 2005.
  3. ^"Twelve Researchers Take Home Top Medals".Science Insider. September 28, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon October 1, 2011.RetrievedSeptember 28,2011.
  4. ^"Richard A. Tapia — Brief Bio".Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics, Rice University.
  5. ^"Richard Tapia - Biography".Maths History.Retrieved5 March2022.
  6. ^Hispanic Engineer & IT.Career Communications Group. 2010.Retrieved7 March2022.
  7. ^Jean Tapia's 60th Birthday Celebration.2001.Retrieved12 September2023.
  8. ^Loosing the Precious Few.ARTE PUBLICO Press. 2022.ISBN9781558859425.Retrieved12 September2023.
  9. ^Megginson, Robert E.(December 8, 2002)."Arlie Petters Is First Recipient of Blackwell-Tapia Prize".SIAM News.Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.RetrievedNovember 15,2008.
  10. ^"Richard Tapia".Mathematics Genealogy Project.RetrievedNovember 15,2008.
  11. ^Newton, David E. (14 May 2014).Latinos in Science, Math, and Professions.Infobase Publishing.ISBN978-1-4381-0786-8.
  12. ^"Societies: The SIAM Prize for Distinguished Service".The MacTutor History of Mathematics.University of St. Andrews.
  13. ^See the older [2009] version of <<"Archives of Previous Tapia Celebration Websites".Archived fromthe originalon March 27, 2009.RetrievedJuly 12,2009.>>... (whichmightcontain some info that is more complete than [or otherwise different from] newer versions of the [ "archive" listing of] <<"Previous Tapia Conferences".Archivedfrom the original on October 8, 2018.RetrievedJune 12,2019.>> on the "ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing"web site.)
  14. ^See alsohttp://tapiaconference.org/... which is the home page of the current (next or most recent) "ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing"web site.
  15. ^"22nd Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards to Honor Latino Leaders During Star-Studded Ceremony on Capitol Hill"(PDF).Hispanic Heritage Awards. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 19 December 2010.Retrieved11 January2011.
  16. ^2021 Class of Fellows of the AMS,American Mathematical Society,retrieved2020-11-02
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