Elwyn Berlekamp, game theorist and coding pioneer, dies at 78

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com"> <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin> <meta name='robots' content='index, follow, max-image-preview:large, max-snippet:-1, max-video-preview:-1' />  <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-2RBY5L823P"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-2RBY5L823P'); </script>  <title>Elwyn Berlekamp, game theorist and coding pioneer, dies at 78 - Berkeley News</title> <link rel="canonical" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/18/elwyn-berlekamp-game-theorist-and-coding-pioneer-dies-at-78/" /> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Elwyn Berlekamp, game theorist and coding pioneer, dies at 78 - Berkeley News" /> <meta property="og:description" content="His error-correcting codes allowed spacecraft to send beautiful images back to Earth" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/18/elwyn-berlekamp-game-theorist-and-coding-pioneer-dies-at-78/" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Berkeley News" /> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2019-04-18T20:13:23+00:00" /> <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2019-07-18T18:58:48+00:00" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/berlekamp750.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:width" content="750" /> <meta property="og:image:height" content="500" /> <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/jpeg" /> <meta name="author" content="Robert Sanders" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@UCBerkeley" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@UCBerkeley" /> <meta name="twitter:label1" content="Written by" /> <meta name="twitter:data1" content="Robert Sanders" /> <meta name="twitter:label2" content="Est. reading time" /> <meta name="twitter:data2" content="7 minutes" /> <script type="application/ld+json" class="yoast-schema-graph">{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/18/elwyn-berlekamp-game-theorist-and-coding-pioneer-dies-at-78/","url":"https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/18/elwyn-berlekamp-game-theorist-and-coding-pioneer-dies-at-78/","name":"Elwyn Berlekamp, game theorist and coding pioneer, dies at 78 - Berkeley News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://news.berkeley.edu/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/18/elwyn-berlekamp-game-theorist-and-coding-pioneer-dies-at-78/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/18/elwyn-berlekamp-game-theorist-and-coding-pioneer-dies-at-78/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/berlekamp750.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-18T20:13:23+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-18T18:58:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https://news.berkeley.edu/#/schema/person/d4aebbf0e7ac9a45029d475b11b0a6d5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/18/elwyn-berlekamp-game-theorist-and-coding-pioneer-dies-at-78/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/18/elwyn-berlekamp-game-theorist-and-coding-pioneer-dies-at-78/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/18/elwyn-berlekamp-game-theorist-and-coding-pioneer-dies-at-78/#primaryimage","url":"https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/berlekamp750.jpg","contentUrl":"https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/berlekamp750.jpg","width":750,"height":500,"caption":"Elwyn Berlekamp in 2006. (Photo courtesy of David Eisenbud)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/04/18/elwyn-berlekamp-game-theorist-and-coding-pioneer-dies-at-78/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://news.berkeley.edu/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"All news","item":"https://news.berkeley.edu/all-news/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Elwyn Berlekamp, game theorist and coding pioneer, dies at 78"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://news.berkeley.edu/#website","url":"https://news.berkeley.edu/","name":"Berkeley News","description":"News from the University of California, Berkeley","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://news.berkeley.edu/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://news.berkeley.edu/#/schema/person/d4aebbf0e7ac9a45029d475b11b0a6d5","name":"Robert Sanders","url":"https://news.berkeley.edu/author/rsanders/"}]}</script>  <style id='co-authors-plus-coauthors-style-inline-css' type='text/css'> .wp-block-co-authors-plus-coauthors.is-layout-flow [class*=wp-block-co-authors-plus]{display:inline} </style> <style id='co-authors-plus-avatar-style-inline-css' type='text/css'> .wp-block-co-authors-plus-avatar :where(img){height:auto;max-width:100%;vertical-align:bottom}.wp-block-co-authors-plus-coauthors.is-layout-flow .wp-block-co-authors-plus-avatar :where(img){vertical-align:middle}.wp-block-co-authors-plus-avatar:is(.alignleft,.alignright){display:table}.wp-block-co-authors-plus-avatar.aligncenter{display:table;margin-inline:auto} </style> <style id='co-authors-plus-image-style-inline-css' type='text/css'> .wp-block-co-authors-plus-image{margin-bottom:0}.wp-block-co-authors-plus-image :where(img){height:auto;max-width:100%;vertical-align:bottom}.wp-block-co-authors-plus-coauthors.is-layout-flow .wp-block-co-authors-plus-image :where(img){vertical-align:middle}.wp-block-co-authors-plus-image:is(.alignfull,.alignwide) :where(img){width:100%}.wp-block-co-authors-plus-image:is(.alignleft,.alignright){display:table}.wp-block-co-authors-plus-image.aligncenter{display:table;margin-inline:auto} </style> <style id='cc-callout-block-style-inline-css' type='text/css'> .wp-block-create-block-copyright-date-block{background-color:#21759b;color:#fff;padding:2px} </style> <style id='cc-related-content-style-inline-css' type='text/css'> .wp-block-create-block-copyright-date-block{background-color:#21759b;color:#fff;padding:2px} </style> <style id='cc-callout-block-inline-css' type='text/css'> .wp-block-cc-callout-block .cc-callout-block__title{color:#262626;font-family:Inter,sans-serif;font-weight:700;margin:1.55em 0 .35em}.wp-block-cc-callout-block{background:#f2f2f2;padding:1em 2em;margin:2em 0}.wp-block-cc-callout-block:first-child{margin-top:0}.wp-block-cc-callout-block:last-child{margin-bottom:0}.wp-block-cc-callout-block .cc-callout-block__title{font-size:1.375rem;font-weight:900;line-height:1.166;margin:1.35em 0 .35em}@media(min-width:375px){.wp-block-cc-callout-block .cc-callout-block__title{font-size:1.375rem}}@media(min-width:768px){.wp-block-cc-callout-block .cc-callout-block__title{font-size:1.5rem}}@media(min-width:1200px){.wp-block-cc-callout-block .cc-callout-block__title{font-size:1.75rem}}@media(min-width:375px){.wp-block-cc-callout-block .cc-callout-block__title{font-weight:900;line-height:1.166}}@media(min-width:768px){.wp-block-cc-callout-block .cc-callout-block__title{line-height:1.36}}@media(min-width:375px){.wp-block-cc-callout-block .cc-callout-block__title{margin:"1.35em 0 0.35em 0"}}.wp-block-cc-callout-block ol,.wp-block-cc-callout-block ul{margin-left:0}.wp-block-cc-callout-block ol li,.wp-block-cc-callout-block ul li{margin:0 0 .4em}@media(min-width:768px){.wp-block-cc-callout-block.alignleft,.wp-block-cc-callout-block.alignright{max-width:50%}} </style> <style id='cc-related-content-inline-css' type='text/css'> .wp-block-cc-related-content .cc-related-content__title{color:#262626;font-family:Inter,sans-serif;font-weight:700;margin:1.55em 0 .35em;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.5}@media(min-width:375px){.wp-block-cc-related-content .cc-related-content__title{font-size:1rem}}@media(min-width:1200px){.wp-block-cc-related-content .cc-related-content__title{font-size:1.25rem}}@media(min-width:375px){.wp-block-cc-related-content .cc-related-content__title{line-height:1.5}} </style> <link rel='stylesheet' id='theme-fonts-css' href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Inter:wght@300..900&family=Source+Serif+4:ital,opsz,wght@0,8..60,200..900;1,8..60,400..700&display=swap' type='text/css' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='fontawesome-css' href='https://kit.fontawesome.com/5f9f8ebc91.css?ver=6.6.1' type='text/css' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='theme-style-css' href='https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/themes/gallantry/dist/css/gallantry.min.css?ver=1727213139' type='text/css' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='searchwp-forms-css' href='https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/plugins/searchwp/assets/css/frontend/search-forms.css?ver=4.3.17' type='text/css' media='all' /> <link rel="https://api.w.org/" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-json/" /><link rel="alternate" title="JSON" type="application/json" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/73525" /><link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/xmlrpc.php?rsd" /> <link rel='shortlink' href='https://news.berkeley.edu/?p=73525' />  <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.svg?v=2.1" sizes="any"> <script type='text/javascript'> (function() { /** CONFIGURATION START **/ var _sf_async_config = window._sf_async_config = (window._sf_async_config || {}); _sf_async_config.uid = 65769; //CHANGE THIS TO YOUR ACCOUNT ID _sf_async_config.domain = 'news.berkeley.edu'; //CHANGE THIS TO YOUR SITE ID _sf_async_config.useCanonical = true; _sf_async_config.useCanonicalDomain = true; //SET PAGE SECTION(S) _sf_async_config.sections = 'Milestones,People'; //SET PAGE AUTHOR(S) _sf_async_config.authors = 'Robert Sanders'; /** CONFIGURATION END **/ function loadChartbeat() { var e = document.createElement('script'); var n = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; e.type = 'text/javascript'; e.async = true; e.src = '//static.chartbeat.com/js/chartbeat.js'; n.parentNode.insertBefore(e, n); } loadChartbeat(); })(); </script> </head> <body class="post-template-default single single-post postid-73525 single-format-standard"> <script> window.spriteTime = '2024-09-24T21:25:39+00:00' </script> <div id="sprites" class="spritemap" style="display:none"></div> <header class="site-header"> <a class="skip-link sr-only-focusable" href="#site-main">Skip to Content</a> <nav class="site-header__nav"> <div class="site-header__wrap bg--berkeley-blue-dark"> <div class="container"> <div class="site-header__wrap__item"> <button id="main-menu-toggler" class="button--toggler button--not" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="main-menu"> <span class="hamburger"> <span class="hamburger__bar hamburger__bar--1"></span> <span class="hamburger__bar hamburger__bar--2"></span> <span class="hamburger__bar hamburger__bar--3"></span> </span> <span class="text--collapsed"><span class="screen-reader-text">Expand Main Menu</span> <span class="button__text">Sections</span></span> <span class="text--expanded screen-reader-text">Collapse Main Menu</span> </button> </div> <div class="site-header__wrap__item"> <a class="logo-link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu"> <img src="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/themes/gallantry/dist/imgs/logo-berkeley-news.svg?v=3" class="logo" alt="UC Berkeley News home"/> </a> </div> <div class="site-header__wrap__item" role="search"> <button id="header-search-toggler" class="button--toggler button--not" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="header-search-form"> <i aria-hidden="true" class="fa-solid fa-sharp icon--collapsed fa-magnifying-glass"></i> <i aria-hidden="true" class="fa-solid fa-sharp icon--expanded fa-xmark"></i> <span class="text--collapsed screen-reader-text">Expand Search Form</span> <span class="text--expanded screen-reader-text">Collapse Search Form</span> </button> <div id="header-search-form" hidden> <div class="container"> <form method="get" id="header-search" class="searchform" action="https://news.berkeley.edu"> <label class="screen-reader-text" for="header-search_s">Search for:</label> <input class="searchform__field" type="text" value="" placeholder="Search …" name="s" id="header-search_s" /> <button class="searchform__button" type="submit" id="header-search_submit"> <i aria-hidden="true" class="fa-solid fa-sharp fa-magnifying-glass"></i> <span class="searchform__button__text"> Search </span> </button> </form> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="main-menu" class="bg--berkeley-blue-dark" hidden> <div class="container"> <ul class="menu menu--main"> <li class="menu__item title-has-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <h2 class="menu__item__title"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://www.berkeley.edu/"> Berkeley.edu </a> </h2> </li> <li class="menu__item title-has-link menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page current_page_parent"> <h2 class="menu__item__title"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/all-news/"> All news </a> </h2> </li> <li class="menu__item title-has-link menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page"> <h2 class="menu__item__title"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/about/news-media-relations/"> Media inquiries </a> </h2> </li> <li class="menu__item menu__item--has-children title-has-link menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-has-children"> <h2 class="menu__item__title"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/research/"> Research </a> </h2> <ul class="menu__item__children"> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/research/technology-engineering/">Technology & engineering</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/research/business-economics/">Business & economics</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/research/humanities/">Humanities</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/research/mind-body/">Mind & body</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/research/politics-society/">Politics & society</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/research/science-environment/">Science & environment</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="menu__item menu__item--has-children title-has-link menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category current-post-ancestor current-menu-parent current-post-parent menu-item-has-children"> <h2 class="menu__item__title"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/people/"> People </a> </h2> <ul class="menu__item__children"> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/people/profiles/">Profiles</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/people/awards/">Awards</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category current-post-ancestor current-menu-parent current-post-parent"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/people/milestones/">Milestones</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="menu__item menu__item--has-children title-has-link menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-has-children"> <h2 class="menu__item__title"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/campus-community/"> Campus & community </a> </h2> <ul class="menu__item__children"> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/campus-community/work-life/">Work life</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/campus-community/campus-news/">Campus news</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/campus-community/events-at-berkeley/">Events at Berkeley</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="menu__item menu__item--has-children title-has-link menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-has-children"> <h2 class="menu__item__title"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/arts-culture/"> Arts & culture </a> </h2> <ul class="menu__item__children"> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/arts-culture/performing-arts/">Performing arts</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/arts-culture/literature/">Literature</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/arts-culture/film/">Film</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/arts-culture/visual-arts/">Visual arts</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="http://events.berkeley.edu/">Events calendar</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="menu__item menu__item--has-children title-has-link menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children"> <h2 class="menu__item__title"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/podcasts/"> Podcasts & series </a> </h2> <ul class="menu__item__children"> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-podcasts"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/podcasts/berkeley-talks/">Berkeley Talks</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-podcasts"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/podcasts/berkeley-voices/">Berkeley Voices</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/topics/berkeley-changemaker/">Changemakers</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/topics/climate-change/">Climate Change</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/topics/democracy-in-distress/">Democracy in Distress</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="menu__item menu__item--has-children title-no-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-has-children"> <h2 class="menu__item__title"> Resources </h2> <ul class="menu__item__children"> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/experts/">Find an expert</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/media-training/">Media training</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__grandchild menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__grandchild__link" href="https://publicaffairs.berkeley.edu/our-work/berkeleyan">Berkeleyan newsletter</a> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <ul class="social-menu__items menu menu--social"> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://www.facebook.com/UCBerkeley/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-facebook-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> Facebook </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://twitter.com/UCBerkeley/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-x-twitter" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> X </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZAXKyvvIV4uU4YvP5dmrmA/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-youtube" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> YouTube </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://instagram.com/UCBerkeleyOfficial/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-instagram-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> Instagram </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://medium.com/@UCBerkeley"> <i class="fa-brands fa-medium" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> Medium </span> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </header> <main id="site-main" class="site-main"> <div class="site-main"> <div class="site-main__header"> <div class="container--restricted"> <div class="post-categories"> <a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/people/milestones/">Milestones</a>, <a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/category/people/">People</a> </div> <h1 class="site-main__title">Elwyn Berlekamp, game theorist and coding pioneer, dies at 78</h1> <p class="site-main__subtitle"><em>His error-correcting codes allowed spacecraft to send beautiful images back to Earth</em></p> <p class="post-byline"> By <a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/author/rsanders/">Robert Sanders</a> </p> <p class="post-date"> April 18, 2019 </p> </div> </div> <div class="site-main__content"> <div class="container--restricted heading--"> <div id="attachment_73516" style="width: 760px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-73516" data-ccwcag-attachment-id="73516" data-ccwcag-attachment='{"disable_page_edit":false}' class="size-full wp-image-73516" src="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/berlekamp750.jpg" alt="Elwyn Berlekamp" width="750" height="500" srcset="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/berlekamp750.jpg 750w, https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/berlekamp750-410x273.jpg 410w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /><p id="caption-attachment-73516" class="wp-caption-text">Elwyn Berlekamp in 2006. (Photo courtesy of David Eisenbud)</p></div> <p>Elwyn Berlekamp, a UC Berkeley mathematician and game theorist whose error-correcting codes allowed spacecraft from Voyager to the Hubble Space Telescope to send accurate, detailed and beautiful images back to Earth, died April 9 at his home in Piedmont, California, from complications of pulmonary fibrosis.</p> <p>A professor emeritus of mathematics and of electrical engineering and computer sciences, Berlekamp was 78.</p> <p>Berlekamp was a “genius” in many areas, according to colleague Richard Karp, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer sciences and holder of computer science’s premier honor, the Turing Award.</p> <p>“He was a brilliant person who was always effective in everything he tried to do, whether it was mathematics or game theory or consulting and investment. He had a curious and powerful mind,” said Karp, who was the first chair of UC Berkeley’s computer sciences division upon its creation and merger with electrical engineering in 1973. Berlekamp succeeded Karp as chair from 1975 to 1977.</p> <p>Berlekamp came of age during the early years of the digital revolution and focused on a problem encountered whenever information is sent from one device to another: How do you account for lost bits of data? He developed algebraic algorithms for compressing images or other information in ways that allowed precise reconstruction, even if parts of the data stream were missing due to noise or faulty transmission.</p> <p>When he felt that his error-correcting codes were not being implemented properly, he founded a company, Cyclotomics, to ensure that they were. The company’s bit-serial encoders and Berlekamp decoders became the NASA standard for space communications. They’re still operating on the Voyager I and II spacecraft, which were launched in 1977 and are now at the outer edges of our solar system.</p> <p>The company employed error-correcting codes to develop numerous innovative electronic subsystems and custom integrated circuits that were used in military communications, optical disk memories, magnetic disk memories, floppy disk memories and compact disks, while the techniques were adapted for optically encoding digital sound tracks on movie film.</p> <p>Cyclotomics’ sound encoding/decoding system was a prototype for Eastman Kodak’s Digital Sound System, which won an Academy Award for scientific and technical achievement in 1995, but was later supplanted by other techniques, including Dolby Sound. Kodak acquired Cyclotomics in 1985 and renamed it Kodak Berkeley Research.</p> <h3>Hedge fund</h3> <p>Berlekamp later branched out into cryptography and the financial market, where companies were beginning to use complex mathematics to predict stock performance, most notably in derivatives. In 1989, he bought controlling shares in a failing firm, Axcom, that had asked for his help with its algorithms. He rewrote them and turned the company around, making a 55% net return during its first year.</p> <div id="attachment_73517" style="width: 760px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-73517" data-ccwcag-attachment-id="73517" data-ccwcag-attachment='{"disable_page_edit":false}' class="size-full wp-image-73517" src="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/games750.jpg" alt="playing games with Berlekamp" width="750" height="500" srcset="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/games750.jpg 750w, https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/games750-410x273.jpg 410w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /><p id="caption-attachment-73517" class="wp-caption-text">Berlekamp playing games with Richard Nowakowski in 2015 following a symposium on combinatorial games, his life-long passion. (Photo courtesy of David Eisenbud)</p></div> <p>In 1990, he sold his interest in the company for six times the purchase price to mathematician and former Renaissance Technologies CEO James Simons, then returned to research at UC Berkeley. The company’s algorithms, with a continual series of enhancements and improvements, performed well for the remainder of the decade, laying the foundation for Renaissance’s Medallion Fund, which is the most successful hedge fund in the world.</p> <p>Berlekamp founded his own hedge fund, Berkeley Quantitative, in 2008, focusing on trading in the futures markets, but it closed after two and a half years.</p> <p>For the last three decades of his life, he focused on the theory of combinatorial games, the most simple example of which, Dots and Boxes, had fascinated him since first grade. He developed theories of the game that allowed him, or anyone, to always win.</p> <p>His two-volume series, <em>Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays </em>(1982, Academic Press<em>)</em>, written with John Conway and Richard Guy, delved into the math of Dots and Boxes and other popular games, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_the_Amazons">Amazons</a>, a game played on a chess board with queens only. It was republished in 2001-2004 in four volumes.</p> <p>“In these books, he manages to describe deep mathematics in a way that is really enjoyable to the reader,” Karp said. “He presents it more as a narrative and explains it with real precision, but in a way that is actually charming. He was a wonderful author as well.”</p> <p>One of his passions was the Asian game of Go, which he analyzed with coauthor David Wolfe in the book <em>Mathematical Go</em> (1994, A. K. Peters Ltd.) — one of the rare books on Go to be translated from English into Japanese, rather than vice versa. He focused on Go’s endgame, said mathematician and colleague David Eisenbud, and once challenged a top Japanese Go master to a series of endgames selected by Berlekamp. He beat the Go master in seven straight games, playing both sides of the board — white and black.</p> <p>“It was mathematics against intuition, and mathematics won,” said Eisenbud, director of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI). “It was an impressive demonstration of which he was very proud.”</p> <p>While the mathematical analysis of games is still very popular, computers have taken the field in a different direction: they employ brute force or machine learning to beat Go and chess masters.</p> <h3>Mathematical Sciences Research Institute</h3> <p>From the 1970s on, Berlekamp was a strong supporter of MSRI, a non-profit mathematics think tank launched in 1982 and housed in a building on land leased from the university in the hills above the campus. He served as chairman of the board from 1994 to 1998, during which time Eisenbud was hired as director, in 1997, and spearheaded fundraising that proved critical to the long-term success of the institute.</p> <div class="video-box"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe title="Youtube video A final game with Elwyn Berlekamp (Amazons) - Numberphile" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kjSOSeRZVNg?showinfo=0&rel=0" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div> <div class="caption">Elwyn Berlekamp explains the game of Amazons. (Video courtesy of Numberphile)</div> </div> <p>His contributions to MSRI are honored by a Berlekamp Postdoctoral Fellowship, which was endowed in 2014 with more than $1 million in donations from friends, and a Berlekamp Garden created in 2006.</p> <p>Berlekamp was born in Dover, Ohio, the son of a minister, on Sept. 6, 1940, and later moved with his family to northern Kentucky, where he graduated from Ft. Thomas Highlands High School in 1958. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, obtaining a B.S. and an M.S. in electrical engineering in 1962 and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1964.</p> <p>That same year, he was appointed an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Berkeley, but left in 1967 for Bell Telephone Laboratories, where he had interned as an undergraduate. While at Bell Labs, he wrote his seminal book, <em>Algebraic Coding Theory</em> (1968), which is considered the bible of the field. The well-known Berlekamp polynomial factoring algorithm was the first, and for many years the most efficient, technique for finding solutions of large polynomial equations created in fields like coding, and is still used in cryptography.</p> <p>He returned to Berkeley in 1971 with a joint appointment in mathematics and electrical engineering, reduced his teaching appointment to part-time in 1982 to focus on his company, Cyclotomics, and retired in 2006.</p> <p>“He was a brilliant person, caring father, accomplished juggler and he had a great sense of humor. He’ll not be forgotten,” said David Patterson, a professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer sciences at Berkeley who is now a distinguished engineer at Google and a Turing Award winner.</p> <p>Berlekamp and his wife, Jennifer, supported various charitable causes and in 2013 founded the Elwyn and Jennifer Berlekamp Foundation, a small private operating foundation based in Oakland to support math and science outreach and education, in general, and combinatorial game theory, in particular.</p> <div id="attachment_73518" style="width: 760px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-73518" data-ccwcag-attachment-id="73518" data-ccwcag-attachment='{"disable_page_edit":false}' class="size-full wp-image-73518" src="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/games3-750.jpg" alt="Berlekamp playing Amazons" width="750" height="362" srcset="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/games3-750.jpg 750w, https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/games3-750-410x198.jpg 410w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /><p id="caption-attachment-73518" class="wp-caption-text">Berlekamp playing the game Amazons with Georg Menz in 2015. Menz was that year’s Berlekamp Postdoctoral Fellow at MSRI. (Photo courtesy of David Eisenbud)</p></div> <p>Berlekamp was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Mathematical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received various honors, including the Centennial Medal, the Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award and the R. W. Hamming Medal, all from IEEE, and was selected as Eta Kappa Nu’s “Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer” in 1971 and as a Putnam Fellow in 1961. He held more than a dozen patents, all of them now in the public domain.</p> <p>He is survived by his wife, Jennifer; daughters Persis Berlekamp, an art historian at the University of Chicago, and Bronwen Berlekamp O’Wril of Portland, Maine; and son David of Oakland.</p> <p>A memorial is planned within the coming months. For updates, check the <a href="http://www.msri.org/">MSRI website</a>.</p> <h4>RELATED INFORMATION</h4> <ul> <li><a href="https://math.berkeley.edu/~berlek/index.html">Elwyn Berlekamp’s website</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </main> <footer id="site-footer" class="site-footer"> <div class="site-footer__main"> <div class="container"> <nav aria-label="Berkeley News Footer"> <ul class="menu menu--main"> <li class="menu__item menu__item--has-children menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-has-children"> <h2 class="menu__item__title title--plain">About</h2> <ul class="menu__item__children"> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/about/">About Berkeley News</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/experts/">Find an expert</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/media-training/">Media training</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/about/news-media-relations/">Contact Berkeley News</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="menu__item menu__item--has-children menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-has-children"> <h2 class="menu__item__title title--plain">Browse News</h2> <ul class="menu__item__children"> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/topics/berkeley-changemaker/">Changemakers</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/topics/climate-change/">Climate Change</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/topics/democracy-in-distress/">Democracy in Distress</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="menu__item menu__item--has-children menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-has-children"> <h2 class="menu__item__title title--plain">Connect</h2> <ul class="menu__item__children"> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://publicaffairs.berkeley.edu/our-work/berkeleyan">Berkeleyan newsletter</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu/about/news-media-relations/">Media inquiries</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="menu__item menu__item--has-children menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-has-children"> <h2 class="menu__item__title title--plain">Campus resources</h2> <ul class="menu__item__children"> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://library.berkeley.edu/">Libraries</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://diversity.berkeley.edu/">Equity, Inclusion & Diversity</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://publicaffairs.berkeley.edu/">Communications & Public Affairs</a> </li> <li class="menu__item__child menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__child__link" href="https://brand.berkeley.edu/">Berkeley Brand</a> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="site-footer__secondary"> <div class="container"> <div class="site-footer__secondary__columns"> <div class="site-footer__secondary__column column--logo"> <div class="site-footer__secondary__logo-row"> <a class="logo-link" href="https://news.berkeley.edu"> <img src="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/themes/gallantry/dist/imgs/logo-berkeley-gold.svg?v=3" class="logo" alt="UC Berkeley"/> </a> <nav aria-label="Footer Social"> <ul class="social-menu__items menu menu--social"> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://www.facebook.com/UCBerkeley/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-facebook-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> Facebook </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://twitter.com/UCBerkeley/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-x-twitter" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> X </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZAXKyvvIV4uU4YvP5dmrmA/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-youtube" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> YouTube </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://instagram.com/UCBerkeleyOfficial/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-instagram-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> Instagram </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://medium.com/@UCBerkeley"> <i class="fa-brands fa-medium" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> Medium </span> </a> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> <p class="copyright-text"> Copyright © 2024 UC Regents; all rights reserved </p> </div> <div class="site-footer__secondary__column"> <nav aria-label="Berkeley Global Footer"> <ul class="menu menu--secondary"> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://visit.berkeley.edu/">Visit</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://events.berkeley.edu/">Events</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://www.berkeley.edu/jobs/">Jobs</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://give.berkeley.edu/">Give</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://vcue.berkeley.edu/committees-initiatives/campus-accreditation-overview">Accreditation</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://www.berkeley.edu/heerf-report/">HEERF Report</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://www.berkeley.edu/contact-us/">Contact Us</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://www.berkeley.edu/atoz/">Websites A-Z</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://www.berkeley.edu/directory/">Directory</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://www.berkeley.edu/map/">Map</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://dac.berkeley.edu/web-accessibility">Accessibility</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://ophd.berkeley.edu/policies-and-procedures/nondiscrimination-policy-statement">Nondiscrimination</a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item__link" href="https://www.berkeley.edu/privacy-policy/">Privacy</a> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> <div class="site-footer__secondary__column column--copyright"> <ul class="social-menu__items menu menu--social"> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://www.facebook.com/UCBerkeley/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-facebook-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> Facebook </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://twitter.com/UCBerkeley/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-x-twitter" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> X </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZAXKyvvIV4uU4YvP5dmrmA/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-youtube" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> YouTube </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://instagram.com/UCBerkeleyOfficial/"> <i class="fa-brands fa-instagram-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> Instagram </span> </a> </li> <li class="menu__item menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom"> <a class="menu__item" href="https://medium.com/@UCBerkeley"> <i class="fa-brands fa-medium" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="screen-reader-text"> Medium </span> </a> </li> </ul> <p class="copyright-text"> Copyright © 2024 UC Regents; all rights reserved </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </footer> <script async src="https://siteimproveanalytics.com/js/siteanalyze_6294756.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/themes/gallantry/dist/js/gallantry.min.js?ver=1727213139" id="theme-script-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://news.berkeley.edu/wp-content/plugins/page-links-to/dist/new-tab.js?ver=3.3.7" id="page-links-to-js"></script> </body> </html>

CINXE.COM

Elwyn Berlekamp, game theorist and coding pioneer, dies at 78 - Berkeley News