Richard A. Tapia | |
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Born | |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.) |
Known for | Mathematical optimization |
Awards | Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring, National Medal of Science |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Mathematics |
Institutions | Rice University |
Thesis | A Generalization of Newton's Method with an Application to the Euler-Lagrange Equation |
Doctoral advisor | Magnus Hestenes Charles Brown Tompkins |
Doctoral students | Jorge Nocedal |
Richard Alfred Tapia (born March 25, 1938) is an American mathematician and University Professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas, the university's highest academic title.[1][2] In 2011, President Obama awarded Tapia the National Medal of Science.[3] He is currently the Maxfield and Oshman Professor of Engineering; Associate Director of Graduate Studies, Office of Research and Graduate Studies; and Director of the Center for Excellence and Equity in Education at Rice University.[4]
Tapia's mathematical research is focused on mathematical optimization and iterative methods for nonlinear problems. His current research is in the area of algorithms for constrained optimization and interior point methods for linear and nonlinear programming.