W. Wesley Peterson

William Wesley Peterson (April 22, 1924 – May 6, 2009) was an American mathematician and computer scientist. He was best known for inventing the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC),[1] for which research he was awarded the Japan Prize in 1999.[2]

Peterson was born on April 22, 1924 in Muskegon, Michigan and earned his Ph.D. in 1954 from the University of Michigan.[2][3] Peterson was a professor of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, joining the faculty in 1964 [4]. He started work at IBM in 1954. [4] He authored the publication of algebraic coding theory Error Correcting Codes in 1961. He co-authored a number of books on the topic of error correcting codes, including the revised 2nd edition of Error Correcting Codes [5] (co-authored with E. J. Weldon). In the early 1950-ties he contributed significantly to the development of signal detection theory through participation in the IRE Professional Group on Information Theory.[6] He has also done research and published in the fields of programming languages,[7] systems programming, and networks. As well as the Japan Prize in 1999,[2][8] he was awarded the Claude E. Shannon Award in 1981, [4] and the IEEE Centennial Medal in 1984. [4]

Dr. Peterson finished 16th in the 2005 Honolulu Marathon for males ages 80 to 84.[9] He died May 6, 2009 in Honolulu, Hawaii.[3]

References

  1. ^ Peterson, W. W. and Brown, D. T. (January 1961). "Cyclic Codes for Error Detection". Proceedings of the IRE 49: 228. doi:10.1109/JRPROC.1961.287814.  - The original paper on CRCs
  2. ^ a b c "Dr. W. Wesley Peterson, 1999 (15th) Japan Prize Laureate". Japan Prize Foundation. http://www.japanprize.jp/en/prize_prof_1999_peterson.html. Retrieved November 24, 2011 (2011-11-24). 
  3. ^ a b "Obituaries, Dr. William Wesley Peterson". The Honolulu Advertiser. May 17, 2009 (2009-05-17). http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/May/17/ln/hawaii905170366.html. Retrieved November 24, 2011 (2011-11-24). 
  4. ^ a b c d The Newsletter of the Colleges of Arts & Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Summer 1999, Volume 5, Number One Retrieved 24 November 2011
  5. ^ Peterson, W. W. and Weldon, E. J. (1971). Error Correcting Codes, Revised 2nd Edition. MIT Press. ISBN 0262160390. 
  6. ^ Peterson,W.W., Birdsall, T. G. & Fox, W. C. (1954) The theory of signal detectability. Proceedings of the IRE Professional Group on Information Theory 4, 171-212.
  7. ^ Peterson, W. W. (June 1974). Introduction to Programming Languages. Prentice Hall College Div. ISBN 978-0134934860. 
  8. ^ Mary Adamski (December 16, 1998 (1998-12-16)). "W. Wesley Peterson receives Japan Prize for work in digital error control". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. http://archives.starbulletin.com/98/12/16/news/story6.html. Retrieved November 24, 2011 (2011-11-24). 
  9. ^ "Honolulu Marathon Updates - Results by division - Males 80 to 84". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. December 11, 2005 (2005-12-11). http://archives.starbulletin.com/2005/12/11/news/resultsdivisions.html. Retrieved November 24, 2011 (2011-11-24). 

External links