Ralph Gomory

Ralph Gomory is a pioneer in integer optimization who has served as Chairman of IBM Research’s Mathematical Sciences Department, Director of Research for IBM, President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and research professor at NYU’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

Gomory received his B.A. from Williams College in 1950, studied at Cambridge University and received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton University in 1954. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1954 to 1957.

He has served in many capacities in academic, industrial and governmental organizations, and is a member of both the National Academies of Science and of Engineering. He has been awarded a number of honorary degrees and prizes including the Lanchester Prize in 1963, the John von Neumann Theory Prize in 1984, the IEEE Engineering Leadership Recognition Award in 1988, the National Medal of Science awarded by the President in 1988, the Arthur M. Bueche Award of the National Academy of Engineering in 1993, the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment in 1998, and the Madison Medal awarded by Princeton University in 1999. He was named to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in 1990 and served to March 1993.

Gomory’s research interests have included integer and linear programming, network flow theory, nonlinear differential equations, and computers. In recent years he has written on the nature of technology and product development, research in industry, industrial competitiveness, technological change, and on economic models involving economies of scale.