Richard Cottle

Professor Cottle has made fundamental contributions to mathematical programming, particularly to quadratic programming and the linear complementarity problem.  His text The Linear Complementarity Problem (coauthored with two of his students, Jong-Shi Pang and Richard E. Stone) won the Lanchester Prize in 1994, and his text Linear and Non-Linear Optimization (coauthored with Mukund Thapa) was recently published to very positive reviews.

The Saul Gass Expository Writing Award, though, is not an award for writing important texts, but for quality exposition across a broad spectrum of publications. Here Professor Cottle excels. Whether it is very technical material, as in his 1974 paper Manifestations of the Schur Complement, his above cited texts, a book review for Interfaces, or an article on the pre-history of linear programming, the clarity of his exposition enhances the reading and learning experience. For over five decades and in dozens of publications, Professor Cottle’s writing has enlightened students and scholars alike.

As the letter nominating Professor Cottle opines: “I have to tip my hat to Dick.  He is a real master of exposition.  Such clarity!  Such scholarship!  Such elegance!  It is a real pleasure and privilege to give Dick my strongest recommendation for a Saul Gass Expository Writing Award.” The committee wholeheartedly agrees.

Richard Cottle of Stanford, Jong-Shi Pang of Johns Hopkins and Richard Stone of Northwest Airlines were honored as co-recipients of the 1994 Lanchester Prize for their book The Linear Complementarity Problem (Academic Press, 1992).

Co-recipients Cottle, Pang and Stone's citation read in part:

• "The linear complementarity problem has played an important unifying role in operations research since its introduction more than three decades ago. In fact, the notion of complementarity lies at the heart of all constrained optimization problems in finite dimensions. Applications of complementarity problems are prevalent, especially in economics and engineering. Over the years, research on linear complementarity has provided new methodology, enhanced our understanding of extant algorithms, and permitted novel applications of operations research.
• "The authors have been among the leaders in this work. Their book is a unique and comprehensive treatment of all major aspects of the linear complementarity problem. The topics covered are both classical and contemporary, there are abundant original ideas, and the exposition is superb. Since its publication, the book has become a standard reference and has stimulated further research and applications. We fully expect it to remain in the forefront of complementarity research and applications for many years to come."