Lance Fortnow to Give Lecture and Colloquium in Computer Science

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Nov. 23, 2010 – Lance Fortnow of Northwestern University will give the Class of 1960 Scholars Lecture in computer science at Williams College on Thursday, Dec. 2, at 8 p.m. in Wege Auditorium in the Thompson Chemistry Building. He will also give the Computer Science Class of 1960 Scholars Colloquium on Friday, Dec. 3, at 2:35 p.m. in the same location. Both events are free and open to the public.

Fortnow is a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer specializing in computational complexity and its applications to economic theory.

The Dec. 2 lecture, titled "P versus NP: An Epic Struggle," focuses on what some consider the most important question in computer science if not all of mathematics, a problem that has gained exposure in the Simpsons, the SIMS video game, and The New York Times. If P could be solved to equal NP, the implications could dramatically transform computation and every aspect of society, from communication to transportation, manufacturing, entertainment, and health.

The Dec. 3 lecture, titled "Bounding Rationality by Computational Complexity," will explore the relationship between computational tools and microeconomic theory, especially economic models, including game theory, prediction markets, forecast testing, preference revelation, and contract theory.

Fortnow received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at MIT. Before Northwestern, he was a professor at the University of Chicago, a senior research scientist at the NEC Research Institute, and a one-year visitor at CWI and the University of Amsterdam.

Fortnow is also the founding editor-in-chief of the ACM Transaction on Computation Theory, serves as chair of ACM SIGACT, and sits on the council of the Computing Community Consortium. He served as chair of the IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity from 2000 to 2006. Fortnow originated and co-authors the Computational Complexity, the first major theoretical computer science blog.

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For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the map outside the driveway entrance to the Security Office located in Hopkins Hall on Main Street (Rte. 2), next to the Thompson Memorial Chapel, or call the Office of Public Affairs (413) 597-4277. The map can also be found on the web at www.williams.edu/home/campusmap/

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