[Axiom-developer] 20090401.01.tpd.patch (bookvol0 add Richard Jenks bio)

[daly]

Added to Book Volume 0: Axiom Jenks and Sutor


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|                      Richard Dimick Jenks                                  |
|           Axiom Developer and Computer Algebra Pioneer                     |
|                                                                            |
|                                                                            |
| Richard D. Jenks was born on November 16, 1937 in Dixon, Illinois,         |
| where he grew up. During his childhood he learned to play the organ        |
| and sang in the church choir thereby developing a life-long passion        |
| for music.                                                                 |
|                                                                            |
| He received his PhD in mathematics from the University of Illinois at      |
| Urbana-Champaign in 1966. The title of his dissertation was                |
| ``Quadratic Differential Systems for Mathematical Models" and was          |
| written under the supervision of Donald Gilles. After completing his       |
| PhD, he was a post-doctoral fellow at Brookhaven National Laboratory       |
| on Long Island. In 1968 he joined IBM Research where he worked until       |
| his retirement in 2002.                                                    |
|                                                                            |
| At IBM he was a principal architect of the Scratchpad system, one of       |
| the earliest computer algebra systems(1971). Dick always believed that     |
| natural user interfaces were essential and developed a user-friendly       |
| rule-based system for Scratchpad. Although this rule-based approach        |
| was easy to use, as algorithms for computer algebra became more            |
| complicated, he began to understand that an abstract data type             |
| approach would give sophisticated algorithm development considerably       |
| more leverage. In 1977 he began the Axiom development (originally          |
| called Scratchpad II) with the design of MODLISP, a merger of Lisp         |
| with types (modes). In 1980, with the help of many others, he              |
| completed an initial prototype design based on categories and domains      |
| that were intended to be natural for mathematically sophisticated          |
| users.                                                                     |
|                                                                            |
| During this period many researchers in computer algebra visited IBM        |
| Research in Yorktown Heights and contributed to the development of the     |
| Axiom system. All this activity made the computer algebra group at IBM     |
| one of the leading centers for research in this area and Dick was          |
| always there to organize the visits and provide a stimulating and          |
| pleasant working environment for everyone. He had a good perspective       |
| on the most important research directions and worked to attract            |
| world-renowned experts to visit and interact with his group. He was an     |
| ideal manager for whom to work, one who always put the project and the     |
| needs of the group members first. It was a joy to work in such a           |
| vibrant and stimulating environment.                                       |
|                                                                            |
| After many years of development, a decision was made to rename             |
| Scratchpad II to Axiom and to release it as a product. Dick and Robert     |
| Sutor were the primary authors of the book Axiom: The Scientific           |
| Computation System. In the foreword of the book, written by David and      |
| Gregory Chudnovsky, it is stated that ``The Scratchpad system took its     |
| time to blossom into the beautiful Axiom product. There is no rival to     |
| this powerful environment in its scope and, most importantly, in its       |
| structure and organization.'' Axiom was recently made available as         |
| free software. See http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/axiom.              |
|                                                                            |
| Dick was active in service to the computer algebra community as            |
| well. Here are some highlights. He served as Chair of ACM SIGSAM           |
| (1979-81) and Conference Co-chair (with J. A. van Hulzen) of EUROSAM       |
| '84, a precursor of the ISSAC meetings. Dick also had a long period of     |
| service on the editorial board of the Journal of Symbolic                  |
| Computation. At ISSAC '95 in Montreal, Dick was elected to the initial     |
| ISSAC Steering Committee and was elected as the second Chair of the        |
| Committee in 1997. He, along with David Chudnovsky, organized the          |
| highly successful meetings on Computers and Mathematics that were held     |
| at Stanford in 1986 and MIT in 1989.                                       |
|                                                                            |
| Dick had many interests outside of his professional pursuits including     |
| reading, travel, physical fitness, and especially music. Dick was an       |
| accomplished pianist, organist, and vocalist. At one point he was the      |
| organist and choirmaster of the Church of the Holy Communion in            |
| Mahopac, NY. In the 1980s and 1990s, he sang in choral groups under        |
| the direction of Dr. Dennis Keene that performed at Lincoln Center in      |
| New York city.                                                             |
|                                                                            |
| Especially important to him was his family: his eldest son Doug and        |
| his wife Patricia, his son Daniel and his wife Mercedes, a daughter        |
| Susan, his brother Albert and his wife Barbara, his sister Diane           |
| Alabaster and her husband Harold, his grandchildren Douglas, Valerie,      |
| Ryan, and Daniel Richard, and step-granddaughter Danielle. His             |
| longtime companion, Barbara Gatje, shared his love for music,              |
| traveling, Point O'Woods, and life in general.                             |
|                                                                            |
| On December 30, 2003, Dick Jenks died at the age of 66, after an           |
| extended and courageous battle with multiple system                        |
| atrophy. Personally, Dick was warm, generous, and outgoing with many       |
| friends. He will be missed for his technical accomplishments, his          |
| artist talents, and most of all for his positive, gentle, charming         |
| spirit.                                                                    |
|                                                                            |
| Prepared by Bob Caviness, Barry Trager, and Patrizia Gianni with           |
| contributions from Barbara Gatje, James H. Griesmer, Tony Hearn,           |
| Manuel Bronstein, and Erich Kaltofen.                                      |
|                                                                            |
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