2002 is the 91st anniversary of John Todd's birth. John Todd received a degree of B.Sc at Queen's University, Belfast in his native Ireland. He studied at Cambridge but never took a PhD degree: he told an interviewer in 1996 that his mentor, Littlewood, did not have a degree himself and didn't think that anyone needed one. Besides that, non degree seeking students didn't pay taxes, so that was an extra incentive.
Despite the lack of a degree, he had very distinguished achievements in his life. He was Olga Taussky's husband, which is enough of a claim to fame. He helped the British navy during World War II, organizing the mathematical computations. After the war, he saved Oberwolfach singlehandedly, dressing up in a British naval uniform, standing at the door with a gun, and convincing the opposing occupying forces that Oberwolfach was already occupied and that they could go away. Then he did it more diplomatically by talking to the French, who were the occupying force in that part of Germany, making sure Oberwolfach was preserved.
He helped set up the Institute for Numerical Analysis at UCLA, which was part of the NBS supported by the U.S. Navy, and where Hestenes and Stiefel came together to write their report. He headed the numerical analysis section of NBS after INA closed, and he stayed there until NBS was moved to the suburbs. He decided he didn't want to go to the suburbs, so instead he want to Cal Tech and has stayed there since 1957.
He's had a tremendous influence on numerical analysis research and education. His book, Survey on Numerical Analysis, published in 1962, was an influential educational book as well as a standard reference for working numerical analysts. He is known for his good humor and his ready laughter. He has 79 publications, the earliest in 1941 and the most recent in 1999. He was one of the first people to really know how to do computation. He made contributions to linear algebra, numerical analysis, and the history of mathematics. His work on the history of computation at NBS is fascinating reading.
We are fortunate to hear this outstanding mathematician, chronicler of math history, and one of the midwifes at the birth of the conjugate gradient algorithm. He'll speak on how Professor Stiefel came to the INA in 1951.