Cleve Moler
Mathematician who created MATLAB and co-founded MathWorks
- Lived
- 86 yrs
- 1939 – 2026
- Works listed
- 2
- Software, Book
- Honours
- 0
- Awards & distinctions
- Profile views
- 0
- 0 followers
Cleve Moler was an American mathematician who wrote the first version of MATLAB in the late 1970s so his students could use matrix libraries easily. He co-founded MathWorks in 1984, and MATLAB became a standard tool in engineering and science. He died in May 2026.
Biography
Education
Moler studied at Caltech and earned his PhD at Stanford under George Forsythe in 1965.
Numerical libraries
He helped write the LINPACK and EISPACK Fortran libraries for linear algebra in the 1970s.
MATLAB
As a professor at the University of New Mexico, he wrote MATLAB (“matrix laboratory”) so students could use these libraries without Fortran. Copies spread to universities.
MathWorks
In 1984 he co-founded MathWorks with Jack Little and Steve Bangert, which rewrote MATLAB in C and added Simulink. He wrote the “Cleve’s Corner” blog for decades and died in 2026.
Timeline
-
1939
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
-
1965
PhD from Stanford
-
1972
Professor at the University of New Mexico
-
1979
LINPACK
-
1984
Co-founds MathWorks
-
1990
Simulink
-
2026
Dies
-
2026
Died, aged 86
Notable works
-
1979
MATLAB Software
-
2004
Numerical Computing with MATLAB Book
Did you know?
-
1
The first MATLAB had only a few dozen functions.
-
2
He was president of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
-
3
MATLAB is used by millions of engineers and students.
Connections
Also born on 17 August
Frequently asked
Who is Cleve Moler?
Cleve Moler was an American mathematician who wrote the first version of MATLAB in the late 1970s so his students could use matrix libraries easily. He co-founded MathWorks in 1984, and MATLAB became a standard tool in engineering and science. He died in May 2026.
When did Cleve Moler die?
Cleve Moler died on 20 May 2026 at the age of 86.
Where is Cleve Moler from?
Cleve Moler was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
What is Cleve Moler known for?
Cleve Moler is best known for Creating MATLAB (late 1970s); co-founding MathWorks (1984); LINPACK and EISPACK.
References
- Cleve Moler — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Cleve Moler (Q92871) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Cleve Moler”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Cleve Moler.” TrackFame, last updated 4 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/cleve-moler
Discussion 0
Sign in or create an account to join the discussion.
No comments yet — be the first.
More in Science
Science
Amnon Shashua
Israeli computer scientist who co-founded Mobileye
Born 1960
Science
Chen Tianqiao
Founder of Shanda, China’s online-gaming pioneer, and brain-science philanthropist
Science
Jeff Hawkins
Inventor of the PalmPilot and neuroscientist of intelligence
Born 1957
Science
Sebastian Thrun
German-American roboticist who led Google’s self-driving car project and founded Udacity
Born 1967
Science
Yuri Milner
Investor behind DST Global and the Breakthrough Prizes
Born 1961
Science
John L. Hennessy
RISC pioneer, former Stanford president and chairman of Alphabet
Born 1952