Remembering Jacob Schwartz

The New York Times reports that Jacob Schwartz, who founded New York University's computer science department and was a professor at the school's Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, died on Monday at the age of 79. Schwartz was a pioneer in the use of supercomputing, designing one of the earliest versions of a parallel computer in the late '70s. "In 1999, Dr. Schwartz became interested in molecular biology and began a multiyear collaboration with Michael Wigler, a professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory," the article notes, adding that Schwartz had still been engaged in molecular biology research at the time of his death.