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==External links==
==External links==
* [http://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/107281 Oral history interview with Robert M. Fano] 20 April 1989. [[Charles Babbage Institute]] University of Minnesota. Fano discusses his move to computer science from information theory and his interaction with the [[Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (ARPA). Topics include: computing research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); the work of J.C.R. Licklider at the [[Information Processing Techniques Office]] of ARPA; time-sharing and computer networking research; Project MAC; computer science education; CTSS development; [[System Development Corporation]] (SDC); the development of ARPANET; and a comparison of ARPA, National Science Foundation, and Office of Naval Research computer science funding.
* [http://purl.umn.edu/107281 Oral history interview with Robert M. Fano] 20 April 1989. [[Charles Babbage Institute]] University of Minnesota. Fano discusses his move to computer science from information theory and his interaction with the [[Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (ARPA). Topics include: computing research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); the work of J.C.R. Licklider at the [[Information Processing Techniques Office]] of ARPA; time-sharing and computer networking research; Project MAC; computer science education; CTSS development; [[System Development Corporation]] (SDC); the development of ARPANET; and a comparison of ARPA, National Science Foundation, and Office of Naval Research computer science funding.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjnmcKVnLi0 Video of Robert Fano] from 1964, demonstrating the [[Compatible Time-Sharing System]] (CTSS).
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjnmcKVnLi0 Video of Robert Fano] from 1964, demonstrating the [[Compatible Time-Sharing System]] (CTSS).


Revision as of 14:36, 3 April 2012

Robert Mario Fano
Prof. Fano in his office at MIT
Born1917 (age 106–107)
Turin, Italy
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materMIT
Known forShannon-Fano coding, founder of Project MAC
AwardsShannon Award, 1976; IEEE Fellow, 1954
Scientific career
Fieldscomputer science, information theory
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Thesis Theoretical Limitations on the Broadband Matching of Arbitrary Impedances  (1947)
Doctoral advisorErnst Guillemin

Robert Mario Fano (born 1917[1] in Turin, Italy, as Roberto Mario Fano) is an Italian-American computer scientist, currently professor emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[2] Fano is known principally for his work on information theory, inventing (with Claude Shannon) Shannon-Fano coding[3] and deriving the Fano inequality. In the early 1960s, he was involved in the development of time-sharing computers, and served as director of MIT's Project MAC from its founding in 1963 until 1968.[4][5]

Fano's father was the mathematician Gino Fano, his older brother was physicist Ugo Fano, and his cousin was Giulio Racah.[6] He grew up in Turin and studied engineering as an undergraduate at the School of Engineering of Torino until 1939, when he emigrated to the United States as a result of anti-Jewish legislation passed under Benito Mussolini[7]. He received his S.B. in electrical engineering from MIT in 1941, before joining the staff of the MIT Radiation Laboratory. After the war, he received an Sc.D., also from MIT, in 1947; his thesis, entitled "Theoretical Limitations on the Broadband Matching of Arbitrary Impedances", was supervised by Ernst Guillemin. He joined the MIT faculty in 1947. Between 1950 and 1953, he led the Radar Techniques Group at Lincoln Laboratory.[8] In 1954, Fano was made an IEEE Fellow for "contributions in the field of information theory and microwave filters".[9]

Fano was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1973, to the National Academy of Sciences in 1978, and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1958.[8][10]

Fano received the Claude E. Shannon Award in 1976 for his work in information theory.[8]

Bibliography

In addition to his work in information theory, Fano also published articles and books about microwave systems,[11] electromagnetism, network theory, and engineering education. His book-length publications include:

  • George L. Ragan, ed., Microwave Transmission Circuits, vol. 9 in the Radiation Laboratory Series (as co-author, 1948).
  • Electromagnetic Energy Transmission and Radiation (with Lan Jen Chu and Richard B. Adler, 1960).
  • Electromagnetic Fields, Energy, and Forces (with Chu and Adler, 1960).
  • Transmission of Information: A Statistical Theory of Communications (1961).

References

  1. ^ Seising, Rudolf (8 August 2007). Fuzzification of systems: the genesis of fuzzy set theory and its initial applications - developments up to the 1970s. Springer. pp. 33–. ISBN 9783540717942. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  2. ^ Markoff, John (13 March 2008). "Joseph Weizenbaum Dies; Computer Pioneer Was 85". The New York Times. p. 22. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  3. ^ Salomon, David (2007). Data compression: the complete reference. Springer. pp. 72–. ISBN 9781846286025. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  4. ^ Wildes, Karl L.; Lindgren, Nilo A. (1985). A century of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, 1882-1982. MIT Press. pp. 348–. ISBN 9780262231190. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  5. ^ Belzer, Jack; Holzman, Albert G.; Kent, Allen (1 May 1979). Encyclopedia of computer science and technology: Pattern recognition to reliability of computer systems. CRC Press. pp. 339–. ISBN 9780824722623. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  6. ^ The New York Times biographical service. New York Times & Arno Press. 2001. pp. 297–. {{cite book}}: C1 control character in |pages= at position 5 (help)
  7. ^ Morris, Errol (23 June 2011). "Did My Brother Invent E-Mail With Tom Van Vleck? (Part Five)". Opinionator. The New York Times. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  8. ^ a b c Lee, John A. N. (1995). International biographical dictionary of computer pioneers. Taylor & Francis US. pp. 296–. ISBN 9781884964473. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  9. ^ "IEEE Fellows - F". Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  10. ^ Dates of election per the American Academy and National Academies membership lists.
  11. ^ Lee, Thomas H. (2004). Planar microwave engineering: a practical guide to theory, measurement, and circuits. Cambridge University Press. pp. 93–. ISBN 9780521835268. Retrieved 15 August 2011.

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