Summary
Joan Laverne Mitchell (May 24, 1947 – December 2, 2015)[1][2] was an American computer scientist, data compression pioneer, and inventor who, as a researcher at IBM, co-invented the JPEG digital image format.[3]
Joan L. Mitchell | |
|---|---|
 A JPEG picture of Joan L. Mitchell | |
| Born | May 24, 1947 |
| Died | December 2, 2015 (aged 68) |
| Alma mater | Stanford University, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign |
| Known for | Co-inventor of JPEG digital image format. |
| Relatives | Eulalia Richardson Mitchell (grandmother, Physicist) |
Early life edit
Mitchell was born on May 24, 1947, in Modesto, California. Mitchell's father was William Mitchell and her mother was Doris Mitchell. [2]
Education edit
Mitchell was a National Merit Scholar at Stanford University, where her work included an independent study project on Brillouin scattering in bromine.[1] In 1969, Mitchell graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Stanford University[1][4] with distinction[5] and Phi Beta Kappa.[1] She followed in the footsteps of her grandmother, Eulalia Richardson Mitchell, who also earned Stanford physics degrees in 1910 and 1912.[1][6]
Mitchell went on to graduate study in condensed matter physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and earned a master's degree in 1971 and a Ph.D. in 1974 there.[1][3][4] As part of her Ph.D. work, she also learned computer programming, so that she could use a computer to solve the differential equations arising in her research.[1] Her dissertation, Effect of heterovalent impurities co-diffusing with monovalent tracers in ionic crystals, was supervised by David Lazarus.[7]
Career and later life edit
Mitchell began working at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in 1974, in the Exploratory Printing Technologies Group.[3][4] There, her inventions included a method for ultrasonic printing, a method for thermal-transfer printing later used in some models of the IBM Selectric typewriter, data compression for fax machines, a teleconferencing system,[3] and the Q-coder method for arithmetic coding used in JBIG image compression.[1] From 1987 to 1994, Mitchell helped develop the JPEG standard, and she became a co-author with Bill Pennebaker of the first book on the standard.[1][3][4] Gregory K. Wallace, another member of the group, remembers Mitchell and Pennebaker as "two of the most insightful, energetic, and prolific members" of the Joint Photographic Experts Group.[8]
During the mid-1990s Mitchell moved from the Watson Research Center to a different IBM group in Vermont and then (after a short leave as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois) to IBM's Printing Systems Division in Colorado.[3][4] In 2007 IBM sold their Printing Systems Division to Ricoh,[9] and Mitchell went with them to the resulting joint venture, InfoPrint Solutions. She retired in 2009,[10] and died on December 2, 2015.[2]
Recognition edit
Mitchell became an IEEE Fellow in 1999 "for contributions to the development of international image compression standards",[11] an IBM Fellow in 2001,[3][4] and, in 2004, a member of the National Academy of Engineering "for leadership in setting standards for the formation of photographic fax and image compression".[1] She was the 2011 winner of the IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award,[1][10] and is listed in the Hall of Fame of distinguished alumni of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[3]
Books edit
Mitchell is the author of:
- JPEG: Still Image Data Compression Standard (with William B. Pennebaker, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1992)[12]
- MPEG Video Compression Standard (with William B. Pennebaker, Chad Fogg, and Didier J. LeGall, Chapman and Hall, 1997)[13]
- Dr. Joan's Mentoring Book: Straight Talk about Taking Charge of Your Career (with Nancy Walker-Mitchell, 2007)[1][10]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hahn, Laura D.; Wolters, Angela S. (2018), "Joan Mitchell (1947–2015), with Celia M. Elliott", Women and Ideas in Engineering: Twelve Stories from Illinois, University of Illinois Press, ISBN 9780252050671
- ^ a b c "Joan Mitchell (1947–2015)", Obituaries, Modesto Bee, December 9, 2015 – via Legacy.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Joan L. Mitchell: Leading developer of image compression methods; coinventor of jpeg", Distinguished Alumni and Friends: Hall of Fame, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign College of Engineering, retrieved 2018-10-21
- ^ a b c d e f "Joan Mitchell", IBM Women in Technology: IBM Women Fellows, IBM, 2003-01-23, retrieved 2018-10-21
- ^ "311 to graduate with honors", The Stanford Daily, vol. 155, no. 64, May 21, 1969
- ^ Eulalia Richardson Mitchell scrapbook, 1906–1911, Stanford University Library, Special Collections, retrieved 2018-10-22
- ^ Mitchell, Joan Laverne (1974), Effect of heterovalent impurities co-diffusing with monovalent tracers in ionic crystals, University of Illinois, Bibcode:1974PhDT.......196M, hdl:2142/30665
- ^ Wallace, Gregory K. (1992), Foreword to JPEG: Still Image Data Compression Standard, Kluwer, pp. xiii–xiv
- ^ IBM sells printing division to Ricoh, UPI, January 26, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-21
- ^ a b c InfoPrint Solutions Company Master Inventor and Fellow Wins Prestigious IEEE Award for Globally Recognized Developments, Ricoh, September 8, 2010, archived from the original on October 22, 2018, retrieved 2018-10-21
- ^ IEEE Fellows Elected as of 1 January 1999, IEEE Communications Society, archived from the original on 22 October 2018, retrieved 2018-10-21
- ^ Review of JPEG: Still Image Data Compression Standard:
- Clark, Richard (November 1994), "Destined to be the definitive text", Computer Communications, 17 (11): 815–816, doi:10.1016/0140-3664(94)90069-8
- ^ Reviews of MPEG Video Compression Standard:
- Langdon, Glen G. Jr. (April 1997), Journal of Electronic Imaging, 6 (2): 262, Bibcode:1997JEI.....6..262L, doi:10.1117/12.283657
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Tudor, P. N. (June 1998), "Book reviews", Electronics & Communication Engineering Journal, 10 (3): 116, doi:10.1049/ecej:19980304
- Langdon, Glen G. Jr. (April 1997), Journal of Electronic Imaging, 6 (2): 262, Bibcode:1997JEI.....6..262L, doi:10.1117/12.283657