Michael L. Overton, Ph.D.

Michael L. Overton is a Silver Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University. His research interests are at the interface of optimization and linear algebra, especially nonsmooth optimization problems involving eigenvalues, pseudospectra, stability and robust control. One of his recent interests is Crouzeix’s conjecture, concerning bounding the ratio of the norm of a polynomial of a matrix to the norm of the polynomial on the numerical range of the matrix. He is the author of Numerical Computing with IEEE Floating Point Arithmetic, first published by SIAM in 2001, with a second edition appearing in 2025. He is a co-winner of the INFORMS Computing Society Prize, 2018.

He received his B.Sc. in computer science from the University of British Columbia in 1974 and his Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University in 1979. He is a fellow of SIAM and of the IMA (Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, UK). He served on the council and board of trustees of SIAM from 1991 to 2005, including a term as chair of the board from 2004 to 2005. He was editor-in-chief of SIAM Journal on Optimization from 1995 to 1999 and co-editor-in-chief of the IMA Journal of Numerical Analysis from 2007 to 2008 and was the editor-in-chief of the MPS (Mathematical Programming Society)-SIAM joint book series from 2003 to 2007. He served on the editorial board of SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications for twenty-one years, from 1995 to 2006 and from 2012 to 2020, and on the board of Foundations of Computational Mathematics from 2010 to 2023, among other editorial boards. He served on the board of directors, Canadian Mathematical Society (2001–2005), on the scientific advisory panel for the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences (2001–2005), on the scientific advisory board for the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences (2010–2014), on the board of directors of the International Linear Algebra Society (2014–2017), and on the scientific advisory board for Mathematics and Physical Sciences at the Simons Foundation (2019–2021).