University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Grainger College of Engineering

Charles W. Gear

[title]
To Charles W. Gear, engineer, computer scientist, educator, and industrial executie for his seminal research contributions in numerical analysis and scientific computing, pioneering as long-sustained efforts in computer science education, outstanding services to the computer science profession, and effective leadership in industrial research.

Vice President of the Computer Science Research Division, NEC Research Institute, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey

  • MS, Mathmatics, 1957
  • PhD, Mathmatics, 1960

Charles W. Gear has been a leading researcher in the field of numerical analysis since the inception of this important area of computer science. One of the world’s authorities in stiff differential equations, he has developed some of the most widely used methods of programs in numerical analysis and scientific computing in use today. He has also worked to make tools for numerical computation access easy to use, both through his own research and the work of his students in developing scientific computing software library tools for access and integration of different software packages.

His contributions to education are as noteworthy as those to research. Gear has published more than a dozen textbooks and guided 20 doctoral students in numerical analysis. From 1962-90, he was member of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, serving as head of department form 1985-90. Before joining UIUC, he was an engineer for two years for IBM British Laboratories. His teaching and research honors include a Fulbright Fellowship in 1956, Johnson Foundation Fellowship in 1980, and Doctor of Honour, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, in 1987. Participation in professional societies includes president of SIAM, SIGNUM board of directors, and ACM council member.

Current as of 1992.