Fulkerson 100

Wednesday, July 17, 2024 - Friday, July 19, 2024 (all day)
Fulkerson 100

Fulkerson 100 is a workshop organized by the Dept. of Combinatorics & Optimization (C&O) from July 17-19, 2024 at the University of Waterloo, to celebrate Fulkerson's legacy and impact in discrete mathematics, especially in the fields of graph theory, optimization, and operations research. Delbert Ray Fulkerson was born on August 14th, 1924, and had a profound and lasting impact on combinatorial optimization, helping shape the burgeoning field of Operations Research. In addition to being the year of his 100th birthday, 2024 also marks the 70th anniversary of two of his pioneering papers: "Maximal Flow through a Network" (with Ford, RAND report), and "Solution of a Large-Scale Traveling-Salesman Problem" (with Dantzig and Johnson, J.ORSA). In recognition of his seminal contributions, the Fulkerson prize was established in 1979, a highly prestigious award given jointly by MOS and AMS for "outstanding papers in the area of discrete mathematics."

Fulkerson 100 will feature invited talks in graph theory, combinatorics, optimization, and theoretical computer science, given by some of the foremost researchers in these areas, as well as lightning talks and a poster session devoted to students and postdocs. By bringing together various leading researchers in discrete mathematics with junior researchers and students, the workshop aims to boost research in the areas pioneered by Fulkerson, while commemorating his vision and contributions.