Summary
Arto Kustaa Salomaa (6 June 1934 – 26 January 2025) was a Finnish mathematician and computer scientist. His research career, which spanned over 40 years, was focused on formal languages and automata theory.
Arto Salomaa | |
|---|---|
 Salomaa in 2005 | |
| Born | 6 June 1934 Turku, Finland |
| Died | 26 January 2025 (aged 90) Kauhajoki, Finland |
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Alma mater | Turun Yliopisto |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics Computer science |
| Institutions | Turun Yliopisto |
| Thesis | On the Composition of Functions of Several Variables Ranging Over a Finite Set (1960) |
| Doctoral advisor | Kustaa Inkeri |
| Doctoral students | Neil D. Jones Juhani Karhumäki Jarkko Kari Lila Kari Paul Vitanyi |
Early life and education
editSalomaa was born in Turku, Finland on 6 June 1934. He earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of Turku in 1954 and a PhD from the same university in 1960. Salomaa's father was a professor of philosophy at the University of Turku.[1] Salomaa was introduced to the theory of automata and formal languages during seminars at Berkeley given by John Myhill in 1957.[2]
Career
editIn 1965 Salomaa became a professor of mathematics at the University of Turku, a position he retired from in 1999. He also spent two years in the late 1960s at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada, and two years in the 1970s at Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark.[1][3]
Salomaa was president of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science from 1979 until 1985.[4]
Publications
editSalomaa authored or co-authored 46 textbooks, including Theory of Automata (1969), Formal Languages (1973), The Mathematical Theory of L-Systems (1980, with Grzegorz Rozenberg), Jewels of Formal Language Theory (1981) Public-Key Cryptography (1990) and DNA Computing (1998, with Grzegorz Rozenberg and Gheorghe Paun). With Rozenberg, Salomaa edited the Handbook of Formal Languages (1997), a 3-volume, 2000-page reference on formal language theory.[5] These books have often become standard references in their respective areas. For example, Formal Languages was reported in 1991 to be among the 100 most cited texts in mathematics.[1]
Salomaa published over 400 articles in scientific journals during his professional career.[6] He also authored non-scientific articles such as "What computer scientists should know about sauna".[7] From his retirement until 2014, Salomaa published over 100 scientific articles.[6]
Personal life and death
editSalomaa married in 1959.[8] He had two children, Kirsti and Kai,[8] the latter of whom is a professor of Computer Science at Queen's University at Kingston and also works in the field of formal languages and automata theory.[9]
Salomaa died on 26 January 2025, at the age of 90.[10] The Research Council of Finland reported his death two days later in a press release, on 28 January.[11]
Awards and recognition
editSalomaa was awarded the title of Academician by the Academy of Finland,[12][13] one of twelve living Finnish individuals awarded the title. He also received the EATCS Award in 2004.[14] Salomaa received seven honorary degrees.[14] On 13 June 2013, Salomaa was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Western Ontario.[15]
References
edit- ^ a b c Karhumäki, J. (1991). "A short biography of Arto Salomaa". Information and Computation. 151 (1–2): 2–4. doi:10.1006/inco.1998.2760.
- ^ Salomaa, A. (2004). "Myhill, Turku and Sauna Poetry: Recollections arising from the EATCS Award". Bulletin of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science. 84: 12–15.
- ^ Salomaa, A. (1999), "Events and Languages", in Calude, C. S. (ed.), People and Ideas in Theoretical Computer Science, Springer, pp. 253–273.
- ^ Brauer, Ute; Brauer, Wilfried (1997). "Silver Jubilee of EATCS". EATCS. Archived from the original on 12 December 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ Infante-Lopez, Gabriel (2005). "Review of Handbook of Formal Languages by Grzegorz Rozenberg and Arto Salomaa". Journal of Logic, Language and Information. 14 (4): 457–466. JSTOR 40180402.
- ^ a b Karhumäki, Juhani (26 August 2014). "A survey of Arto's achievements" (PDF). International Conference on Developments in Language Theory (18).
- ^ Salomaa, A. (1981). "What computer scientists should know about sauna". Bulletin of the European Association of Theoretical Computer Science. 15: 8–21.
- ^ a b Salomaa, Arto. "Curriculum Vitae". Retrieved 4 July 2018..
- ^ "Kai T. Salomaa". Queen's University. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ^ Kuolleet, Ilkka-Pohjalainen, p. 14, 28 January 2025
- ^ "Arto Salomaa, Academian of Science, dies at 90". Retrieved 28 January 2025.
- ^ "Finnish Academicians of Science — Academy of Finland". Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
- ^ Academy of Finland, "Academicians | Academy of Finland". Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014..
- ^ a b van Leeuwen, Jan (2004), "The distinguished achievement award: EATCS Award 2004", Bulletin of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science, 84: 10–11
- ^ "Arto Salomaa - Computer Science - Western University". Computer Science Department, University of Western Ontario. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018..
External links
edit- Arto Salomaa at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
- Arto Salomaa home page
- Arto Salomaa at the Academia Europaea
- Arto Salomaa publications indexed by Microsoft Academic