Thomas A. Goldstein of Stanford University is the recipient of the 2012 Richard C. DiPrima Prize awarded by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). Goldstein is being recognized for his doctoral dissertation, "Algorithms and Applications for L1 Minimization," and for devising an algorithm, the split Bregman iteration, which is remarkably effective for L1 minimization, in particular, to applications in compressed sensing and total variation-based image processing.
A postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, Goldstein works in the Information Systems Laboratory in the Department of Electrical Engineering. He obtained his BA in Mathematics from Washington University in St.Louis and earned an MS and PhD both in Applied Mathematics from UCLA, under the supervision of Stanley Osher.
Their joint paper, "The Split-Bregman Method for L-1 Regularized Problems," published in the SIAM Journal on Imaging Sciences in 2009 was selected by Thomson Reuters as a "new hot paper" in computer science based on Essential Science IndicatorsSM.
Goldstein's primary research interest is in numerical methods for optimization problems and elliptic PDEs. His work finds many applications in image processing, especially in MRI and CT technology.
He received his prize, which includes $1,000 and a framed, hand-calligraphed certificate, at the Prizes and Awards Luncheon held on Tuesday, July 10, as part of the SIAM Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Richard C. DiPrima Prize is awarded every two years to a junior scientist in recognition of outstanding research in applied mathematics. The prize is based on the candidate's dissertation, which must have been completed within the two calendar years prior to the year before the award date.
The prize was proposed in 1986 by the late Gene H. Golub, when he was SIAM President, to honor then-late Past President Richard C. DiPrima. The prize is funded by donations from friends, students, colleagues, and family members of Dr. DiPrima.