Michael J. D. Powell
Michael James David Powell FRS FAA[1] (29 July 1936 – 19 April 2015) was a British mathematician, who worked in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at the University of Cambridge.[2][3][4][5][6]
Michael Powell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Michael James David Powell 29 July 1936 London |
| Died | 19 April 2015 (aged 78)[1] |
| Education | Frensham Heights School Eastbourne College |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (BA, ScD)[2] |
| Known for | Powell's method Davidon–Fletcher–Powell formula |
| Awards | Naylor Prize and Lectureship |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Numerical analysis Optimization Approximation[3] |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge |
| Website | michaeljdpowell |
Education and early life
Born in London, Powell was educated at Frensham Heights School and Eastbourne College.[1] He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree followed by a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree in 1979 at the University of Cambridge.[7]
Career and research
Powell was known for his extensive work in numerical analysis, especially nonlinear optimisation and approximation. He was a founding member of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and a founding Managing Editor of the Journal for Numerical Analysis. His mathematical contributions include quasi-Newton methods, particularly the Davidon-Fletcher-Powell formula and the Powell's Symmetric Broyden formula, augmented Lagrangian function (also called Powell-Rockafellar penalty function), sequential quadratic programming method (also called as Wilson-Han-Powell method), trust region algorithms (Powell's dog leg method), conjugate direction method (also called Powell's method), and radial basis function. He had been working on derivative-free optimization algorithms in recent years, the resultant algorithms including COBYLA, UOBYQA, NEWUOA, BOBYQA, and LINCOA.[8] He was the author of numerous scientific papers[3] and of several books, most notably Approximation Theory and Methods.[9]
Awards and honours
Powell won several awards, including the George B. Dantzig Prize from the Mathematical Programming Society/Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and the Naylor Prize from the London Mathematical Society. Powell was elected a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States in 2001 and as a corresponding fellow to the Australian Academy of Science in 2007.[7][10][11][12]
References
- Buhmann, Martin D.; Fletcher, Roger; Iserles, Arieh; Toint, Philippe (2018). "Michael J. D. Powell. 29 July 1936 – 19 April 2015" (PDF). Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. London: Royal Society. 64: 341–366. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2017.0023. ISSN 0080-4606. S2CID 59006501.
- Michael J. D. Powell at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- Michael J. D. Powell publications indexed by Google Scholar
- ICNAAO 2016 (5 August—7, 2016, Beijing), a memorial conference organized by Professor Ya-xiang Yuan
- A memorial site set up by Dr. Dominique Orban
- An Interview with M. J. D. Powell by Luís Nunes Vicente, 14 June 2003
- "Powell in Oral History of SIAM". SIAM. 6 April 2005. see also An Interview with M. J. D. Powell by Philip J. Davis, 6 April 2005
- "PRIMA: Reference Implementation for Powell's Methods with Modernization and Amelioration". Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- Approximation Theory and Methods, ISBN 978-0521295147.
- An Interview with M. J. D. Powell by Xiaoling Sun, 2006
- Citation for winning the Catherine Richards Prize
- "Optimization software by Professor M. J. D. Powell at CCPForge". Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.