This lecture presents the life, legacy and some timeless lessons from Dr. Wesley Hamming (1915-1998), a remarkable mathematician (alumnus of Illinois Math (PhD Trjitzinsky)), computer scientist, educator, mentor, and polymath.
During his career, Hamming developed numerous solutions in academia, government service, and industry. He helped form the foundation of modern computing science, coding and information theory, digital filters, and numerical methods. His better-known contributions include Error Correcting Codes (ECC), the Hamming window, and the Hamming distance.
Hamming wrote ten books, over a hundred articles, and gave many notable lectures. He received significant recognition for his work, including the 1968 ACM Turing Award, the 1986 IEEE Hamming Award, and the 1996 Eduard Rhein Foundation Award. Besides these and additional honors, many of his other contributions over decades generally remain unknown to subsequent generations of mathematicians, and engineers.
The speaker undertook the Richard Wesley Hamming Legacy Project to establish and perpetuate Hamming’s legacy. Project results include the Hamming Open Access Archive (HOAA) and the legacy tribute biography – MAN, MATHEMATICIAN, AND MENTOR: RICHARD WESLEY HAMMING. Drawing from the archive and the biography, this lecture presents a chronology with photographs, videos, and anecdotes to describe this determined and innovative deep thinker who strove for excellence. After paraphrasing some of Hamming’s guidance for scientists and engineers, Dr. Mandelberg will entertain questions from the audience.
Martin Mandelberg is an engineer, strategist, mathematician, computer scientist, and educator with 50 years experience in government, industry, and academia. Mandelberg is Hamming’s protégé, only Doctoral Student, and created the Richard Wesley Hamming Legacy Foundation, and author of Man, Mathematician, and Mentor: Richard Wesley Hamming.
