astronomy

J. Alan George

J. Alan George is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand J. Alan George rather than just read about it. In short: J. Alan George, (born November 9, 1943) is a computer scientist and university administrator.

Key takeaways

J. Alan George belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect J. Alan George to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of J. Alan George from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

J. Alan George, (born November 9, 1943) is a computer scientist and university administrator. In the academic world, George is best known for his intensive research and wide-ranging contributions to the field of numerical linear algebra, specifically computation with sparse matrices. He is the author or coauthor of more than 100 research articles and two books, and co-editor of two other books. With his students, he has developed a widely used mathematical software package (SPARSPAK) for solving sparse systems of equations and sparse least squares problems. He is also well known at the University of Waterloo for having served in a number of senior administrative positions, notably vice-president, provost, and dean of mathematics.

Education George received a BSc and MSc from the University of Alberta in 1964 and 1966 respectively, and a PhD from Stanford University in 1971. His doctoral thesis was entitled Computer Implementation of the Finite Element Method and his supervisor was George Forsythe.

Administrative service He served as dean of the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo from 1980 to 1986. From 1986 to 1988 he held the position of distinguished scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and university professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He held the position of vice-president, academic and provost from 1988 until June 30, 1993. He again served as dean of mathematics from December 3, 1997, to June 30, 2005. He served as interim vice-president, academic and provost at the university from January through August 2001, and interim vice-president, university research from January 2006 through June 2007. He is currently associate provost, information systems and technology at UW, a position he has held since July, 2003, and also has been serving as interim dean of graduate studies since October 2007. His name has been given to an award, the J. Alan George Award, given by Waterloo's undergraduate Mathematics Society to an undergraduate completing studies in the Faculty of Mathematics who has shown exemplary service to student life during the duration of his or her studies.

Controversy In 1989, George attracted some attention for his decision, as Provost, to bar the Internet newsgroup rec.humor.funny from Waterloo's news service. From 1991 to 1993, he was involved in a dispute ("the Edmonds affair") with the University of Waterloo and Jack Edmonds. In 2000, his decision to override a professor's assigned marks for a calculus class resulted in considerable news coverage on campus and a formal arbitration between the university and the professor concerned.

Other He has been a consultant to various companies and government agencies in Canada, the United States, and Britain, and serves or has served on advisory or governing boards for numerous academic institutions and research institutes. He is a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (UK), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

See also List of University of Waterloo people

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with J. Alan George

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what J. Alan George claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to J. Alan George before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about J. Alan George ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of J. Alan George

In research: J. Alan George appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses J. Alan George in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: J. Alan George is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1943 births, Academic staff of the University of Waterloo, Canadian computer scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for J. Alan George outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study J. Alan George in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what J. Alan George means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain J. Alan George out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is J. Alan George in simple terms?

J. Alan George, (born November 9, 1943) is a computer scientist and university administrator.

Why does J. Alan George matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study J. Alan George?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on J. Alan George.