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Juris Hartmanis
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Juris Hartmanis

Latvian-born computer scientist who founded computational complexity theory

5 July 1928 – 29 July 2022 United States Verified by our editors
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Lived
94 yrs
1928 – 2022
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Juris Hartmanis was a Latvian-American computer scientist who, with Richard Stearns, founded computational complexity theory, the study of how much time and memory problems need. He built Cornell University’s computer science department and shared the 1993 Turing Award with Stearns.

Biography

Early life

Hartmanis was born in Riga; his father, a Latvian army general, died in a Soviet prison. The family fled to Germany, where he studied physics at the University of Marburg, before moving to the United States. He earned a PhD in mathematics at Caltech in 1955.

Complexity theory

At General Electric’s research laboratory, Hartmanis and Richard Stearns wrote “On the Computational Complexity of Algorithms” (1965), which introduced time-complexity classes and proved that more time lets computers solve more problems. The paper gave the field its name.

Cornell

In 1965 he became the founding chair of Cornell’s computer science department, one of the first in the US, and led it to international standing.

Honours

Hartmanis received the Turing Award in 1993 and the Grand Medal of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. He died in 2022.

Timeline

  1. 1928

    Born in Riga, Latvia

  2. 1949

    Emigrates to the United States

  3. 1955

    PhD from Caltech

  4. 1958

    Joins GE Research Laboratory

  5. 1965

    Complexity paper; founds Cornell CS department

  6. 1993

    Turing Award

  7. 2001

    Grand Medal of the Latvian Academy of Sciences

  8. 2022

    Died, aged 94

Notable works

  • 1965

    On the Computational Complexity of Algorithms Paper

    With Richard Stearns.

Awards and honours

  • Turing Award

    1993

  • Grand Medal of the Latvian Academy of Sciences

    2001

Did you know?

  1. 1

    His father was a general in the Latvian army.

  2. 2

    He was a foreign member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.

  3. 3

    Cornell’s department became one of the top computer science departments in the world.

Connections

Related people

Also born on 5 July

Frequently asked

Who is Juris Hartmanis?

Juris Hartmanis was a Latvian-American computer scientist who, with Richard Stearns, founded computational complexity theory, the study of how much time and memory problems need. He built Cornell University’s computer science department and shared the 1993 Turing Award with Stearns.

When did Juris Hartmanis die?

Juris Hartmanis died on 29 July 2022 at the age of 94.

Where is Juris Hartmanis from?

Juris Hartmanis was born in Riga, Latvia.

What is Juris Hartmanis known for?

Juris Hartmanis is best known for Founding computational complexity theory; Cornell computer science; Turing Award 1993.

What awards has Juris Hartmanis received?

Notable honours include Turing Award (1993), Grand Medal of the Latvian Academy of Sciences (2001).

References

  1. Juris Hartmanis — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  2. Juris Hartmanis — Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  3. Juris Hartmanis — Goodreads author page. Goodreads. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  4. Official website. www.engineering.cornell.edu. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  5. Juris Hartmanis (Q92628) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.

Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Juris Hartmanis”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more

External links

Official website Website Wikipedia
Filed under Complexity theoryCornell UniversityTuring Award Computer ScientistProfessor

About this profile

Cite this page

“Juris Hartmanis.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/juris-hartmanis

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