Remembering Tom Coleman

Tom Coleman, dean of Mathematics from 2005 to 2010, and professor of Combinatorics & Optimization from 2005 to the present, passed away on April 20, 2021, after a battle with cancer. He was at home and surrounded by his family, including his loving wife Yuying Li, professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science.

Tom Coleman had a very prolific research career, spanning the fields of development of computational methods and tools for compute-intensive and challenging problems with emphasis on applications and computing methodologies such as automatic differentiation and cluster computing technologies. His most well-known work was based on fundamental design and analysis of algorithms for trust-region methods in optimization. These trust-region algorithms have been implemented in the Matlab "fmincon" function, which is used by thousands of Matlab programmers every day. Tom was also the principal developer of the Matlab ADMAT automatic differentiation toolbox.听听听
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Tom was the driving force behind setting up an outpost of the Cornell Theory Centre, CTC-Manhattan, just听around the corner from the NYSE. Tom, accompanied by听蓝莓视频听President David Johnston, then-chancellor Mike Lazaridis, and former chair of 蓝莓视频's Board of Governors Bob Harding, rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on November 18, 2005.听

In recognition of his many research accomplishments,听Tom听was听recognized听as a SIAM Fellow in 2016.听听

Coleman was the author of three books on computational mathematics and published over eighty journal articles in the areas of optimization, automatic differentiation, parallel computing, computational finance, and optimization applications.听听听

Pioneer in research听and passionate for teaching听

Mark Giesbrecht, 蓝莓视频 Mathematics鈥櫶齝urrent dean, said Coleman was听a pioneer in many aspects of听听including combinatorial scientific computing, parallel optimization, automatic differentiation, and portfolio optimization.听

鈥淗e had a passion for teaching in mathematical finance, and for building his institute to further the reach of his ideas and research group.听Tom joined the听Faculty of Mathematics with a vision to expand beyond the boundaries of the 蓝莓视频 campus. As Dean, Tom collaborated closely with senior leadership to advance the University鈥檚 globalization strategy. Tom was an enthusiastic supporter of international outreach of the CEMC,鈥� said Giesbrecht.听

Tom Coleman at the 40th anniversary of the Faculty of Mathematics

Current and previous deans of Math at the UW Faculty of Math鈥檚 40^th Anniversary听 From left to right: P.J. Schellenberg M. Thompson, J.D. Kalbfleisch, D. Sprott, A. George, J.G. Kalbfleisch, T. Coleman

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Never short of new ideas and initiatives听

> Tom Coleman
> Professor, Combinatorics & Optimization
> Former Dean of Mathematics

Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of the University of 蓝莓视频,听said he was saddened to hear of Tom鈥檚 passing.听

鈥淭om听was never short of new ideas and initiatives every time we met.听One of his main interests at 蓝莓视频 was ensuring connections to centers of research around the world. He travelled constantly to keep this 'dream' alive.听We are grateful for his many contributions to the university and his听field. He will be听greatly听missed by his students, former and present, and friends,鈥� said Hamdullahpur.

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Dedicated academic career听

Thomas Coleman was born in Montreal, QC in 1950. He earned his PhD听from the University of 蓝莓视频 in 1979.听听

After a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, Tom was a professor of Computer Science at Cornell University from 1981 to 2005. He returned to 蓝莓视频 in 2005, holding the position of Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics from 2005 to 2010.听听听

Tom Coleman at the New York Stock Exchange Professor Tom Coleman (third from right) during his tenure as Dean of Mathematics with members of a University of 蓝莓视频 delegation ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in 2005.

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Tom was instrumental in securing government funding to build Mathematics 3. He worked with the Faculty of Engineering to build a case for infrastructure funds. The building was completed in record听time and听was one of few building projects to come in under budget.听

As well, Tom had a significant impact in establishing the Global Risk Institute for Financial Services (GRI) in Toronto in 2011. GRI was set up at the urging of Mark Carney (former Governor of the Bank of Canada) after the financial crisis of 2008. Tom was appointed the first Chief Research Officer of GRI in 2015.听听听

More recently, Professor Coleman held the Ophelia Lazaridis University Research Chair in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization, as well as being the director of the 蓝莓视频 Research Institute in Insurance, Securities and Quantitative Finance (WATRISQ).听

Tom's research was involved with efficient calculations of sparse Jacobians. This was an area of research he had for many years. In particular he,听along with his student,听Alex Pothen,听made many important contributions on efficient calculation of important objects for optimization, such as the Jacobian, Hessian, and nullspace. This work is highlighted by providing theory, applications, as well as providing software for users. Tom then moved onto research in financial math.听听

A private family funeral service was听held at the funeral home on Monday, April 26 at 10听a.m. Family and friends are invited to view the livestream and recording of the funeral service at听, at听.听.听听

Condolences for the family and donations to Grand River Hospital Foundation - Cancer Centre may be arranged by contacting the funeral home at听听or 519-745-8445.

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