Jack Wolf, who was the Stephen O. Rice Professor at the Center for Magnetic Recording Research in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, San Diego, died May 12, 2011. He was 76, and died of amyloidosis (a protein body buildup disorder).
Wolf’s New York Times’ bylined obituary described him in the headline as the man “who did the math behind computers.” According to the Times, information theorists like Wolf “built the intellectual foundation of the computer age by using advanced algebra to devise ways to send, receive, and store data.”
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Penn in 1956 and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Princeton in 1960. From 1960 to 1963 he was in the Air Force, and then was an associate professor at NYU (1963-1965), associate to full professor at Brooklyn Polytech (1965-1973), and a professor at UMass, Amherst (1973-1985). He became the Rice Professor at UC, San Diego in 1985.
Wolf received many awards for his research on information and communication theories, computer and communications networks, and magnetic recording.
He is survived by Toby, his wife of 55 years; four children; and five grandchildren.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.