Victor Shoup

Victor Shoup is a computer scientist and mathematician. He obtained a PhD in computer science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1989, and he did his undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He is a professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, focusing on algorithm and cryptography courses. He has held positions at AT&T Bell Labs, the University of Toronto, Saarland University, and the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory.

Shoup's main research interests and contributions are computer algorithms relating to number theory, algebra, and cryptography. His contributions to these fields include:

• The Cramer–Shoup cryptosystem asymmetric encryption algorithm bears his name.
• His freely available (under the terms of the GNU GPL) C++ library of number theory algorithms, NTL, is widely used and well regarded for its high performance.
• He is the author of a widely used textbook, A Computational Introduction to Number Theory and Algebra, which is freely available online.
• He has proved (while at IBM Zurich) a lower bound to the computational complexity of generic algorithms for solving the discrete logarithm problem, a problem in group theory which is of considerable importance to public-key cryptography.
• He is closely involved in the development of an emerging ISO standard for public-key cryptography.

See also

• Cramer–Shoup cryptosystem

References and external links

• Shoup's website, including his free textbook, NTL library and research papers
• Advertisement for a 2003 cryptography course of Shoup's (mentioning history of academic institutes where Shoup has held positions)
• Educational Background