Don Coppersmith

Don Coppersmith
Born1950 (age 73–74)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S., 1972)
Harvard University (M.S., 1975; Ph.D., 1977)
Known forCoppersmith–Winograd algorithm
AwardsRSA Award for Excellence in Mathematics
Scientific career
FieldsCryptography
InstitutionsIBM, IDA/CCRP
Thesis Deformations of Lie Groups and Lie Algebras  (1977)
Doctoral advisorJohn H. Hubbard
Shlomo Sternberg

Don Coppersmith (born c. 1950) is a cryptographer and mathematician. He was involved in the design of the Data Encryption Standard block cipher at IBM, particularly the design of the S-boxes, strengthening them against differential cryptanalysis.[1] He also improved the quantum Fourier transform discovered by Peter Shor in the same year (1994).[2] He has also worked on algorithms for computing discrete logarithms, the cryptanalysis of RSA, methods for rapid matrix multiplication (see Coppersmith–Winograd algorithm) and IBM's MARS cipher. He is also a co-designer of the SEAL and Scream ciphers.

In 1972, Coppersmith obtained a bachelor's degree in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Masters and Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University in 1975 and 1977 respectively.[1] He was a Putnam Fellow each year from 1968–1971, becoming the first four-time Putnam Fellow in history.[3] In 1998, he started Ponder This, an online monthly column on mathematical puzzles and problems. In October 2005, the column was taken over by James Shearer.[4] Around that same time, he left IBM and began working at the IDA Center for Communications Research, Princeton.[5]

In 2002, Coppersmith won the RSA Award for Excellence in Mathematics.[6][7]

In 2022, Coppersmith was awarded the Levchin Prize for “foundational innovations in cryptanalysis”[8] .

  1. ^ a b Coppersmith, Don (May 1994). "The Data Encryption Standard (DES) and its strength against attacks" (PDF). IBM Journal of Research and Development. 38 (3): 243–250. doi:10.1147/rd.383.0243. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-25.
  2. ^ Coppersmith, D. (1994). "An approximate Fourier transform useful in quantum factoring". Technical Report RC19642, IBM.
  3. ^ "Putnam Competition Individual and Team Winners". Mathematical Association of America. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  4. ^ "Welcome to our monthly puzzles". Retrieved 2018-01-05. The current puzzlemaster is Oded Margalit. He took over from James B. Shearer, who took over from the original puzzlemaster Don Coppersmith, in October 2005.
  5. ^ Coppersmith, Don; Wu, Chai Wah (2008-12-01). "Conditions for weak ergodicity of inhomogeneous Markov chains". Statistics & Probability Letters. 78 (17): 3082–3085. doi:10.1016/j.spl.2008.05.012.
  6. ^ "Don Coppersmith Wins RSA Security Award for Mathematics". 2002-02-19. Archived from the original on 2017-01-27. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  7. ^ "RSA Security Announces 2002 Award Recipients; Awards Recognize Major Contributions in Mathematics, Public Policy and Industry". 2002-02-19. Archived from the original on 2018-01-05. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  8. ^ "The Levchin Prize for Real-World Cryptography". Real World Crypto Symposium. International Association for Cryptologic Research. Retrieved 9 April 2024.