Heather Wilber wins the Householder Prize in Numerical Linear Algebra

Heather, who is now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas’ Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, completed her Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Alex Townsend (Department of Mathematics) at Cornell’s Center for Applied Math. She earned her M.S. in Applied Math at Boise State University with Professor Grady Wright.

The Householder Prize is awarded to the best PhD thesis in Numerical Linear Algebra in recent years, as judged by a committee. The Householder Prize, given every three years, was established at the 1969 Gatlinburg Symposium (now renamed the Householder Symposium) in memory of the outstanding contributions of Alston S. Householder, 1904--1993 to numerical linear algebra. Recipients receive a significant cash prize in various currencies that roughly represents the nationalities of the attendees of the symposium. In addition, the awardee is asked to get a plenary lecture on short notice during the Householder Symposium. 

Wilber's work involves problems at the interface of approximation theory, computational mathematics, and numerical linear algebra. This includes the development and analysis of low rank approximation methods, direct solvers for partial differential equations, algorithms for solving linear matrix equations and evaluating functions of matrices, and robust algorithms for computing with rational approximations to functions. 

Many congratulations, Heather!