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Roger Ware Brockett (October 22, 1938 – March 19, 2023) was an American control theorist and the An Wang Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Harvard University, who founded the Harvard Robotics Laboratory in 1983.

Brockett became a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1991 for outstanding contributions to the theory and practice of linear and nonlinear control systems.

Biography

Brockett was born on October 22, 1938, in Seville, Ohio, to Roger Lawrence and Grace Ester (Patch) Brockett.

Brockett received his B.S. from Case Western Reserve University in 1960, and continued on to receive his M.S. in 1962 and his Ph.D. in 1964 from Case Western Reserve University as well. His Ph.D. dissertation was The Invertibility of Dynamic Systems with Application to Control under the supervision of Mihajlo D. Mesarovic. At Case Western, Brockett was classmates with Donald Knuth.

After teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1963 to 1969, he joined the faculty at Harvard University. At Harvard, Brockett became the Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Mathematics and in 1989 the An Wang Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Brockett was known for his work on control theory and linear differential systems; in 1970 he published the textbook Finite Dimensional Linear Systems. Brockett has advised over 50 students, including Daniel Liberzon, Jan Willems, David Dobkin, John Baras, P. S. Krishnaprasad, and John Baillieul.

After experiencing a series of cardiac events, Brockett died at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, on March 19, 2023, at the age of 84.

Awards and honors

Brockett received several awards and honors, including:

• Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) since 1974
• Member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1991
• In 1989 the Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award from the American Automatic Control Council
• In 1991 the IEEE Control Systems Science and Engineering Award
• In 1996 the "W.T. and Idalia Reid Prize in Mathematics" from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
• In 2005 the Rufus Oldenburger Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• In 2009 the IEEE Leon K. Kirchmayer Graduate Teaching Award
• In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.
• In 2014 the John R. Ragazzini Award from the American Automatic Control Council
• In 2017 the Quazza Medal from the International Federation of Automatic Control

References

1. Baillieul, J. (1999). Mathematical Control Theory. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 0-387-98317-1.
2. Roach, John (May 19, 2003). "Robots May Be Built as Companions, Expert Says". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on October 8, 2003..
3. Roger W. Brockett (26 May 2015). Finite Dimensional Linear Systems. SIAM. ISBN 978-1-61197-387-7.
4. "Remembering Roger Brockett, 1938–2023". University of Maryland. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
5. "Brockett's obituary at Douglass Funeral Home". Retrieved May 10, 2023.
6. Brockett, Louise Brewster (2023). "Prof. Roger Ware Brockett, 1938–2023 [Obituary]". IEEE Control Systems Magazine. 43 (4): 106–108. doi:10.1109/MCS.2023.3273824. ISSN 1066-033X. S2CID 260008570.
7. "Fellow Class of 1974". IEEE. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
8. "NAE Members Directory - Dr. Roger W. Brockett". NAE. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
9. "Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award". American Automatic Control Council. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
10. Baillieul, John B.; Willems, Jan C., eds. (1999). Mathematical control theory. Springer-Verlag. p. xix. ISBN 0-387-98317-1. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
11. "IEEE Control Systems Award Recipients" (PDF). IEEE. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
12. "IEEE Control Systems Award". IEEE Control Systems Society. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
13. "W.T. and Idalia Reid Prize in Mathematics". Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
14. "Rufus Oldenburger Medal". American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
15. "IEEE Leon K. Kirchmayer Graduate Teaching Award Recipients" (PDF). IEEE. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 19, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
16. "List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society". American Mathematical Society. Retrieved November 10, 2012.

External links

• Brockett's web page at Harvard
• Biography at the University of Maryland.
• Memorial page at the University of Maryland

• 1938 births
• 2023 deaths
• American computer scientists
• Case Western Reserve University alumni
• American control theorists
• Fellows of the IEEE
• Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences faculty
• MIT School of Engineering faculty
• American roboticists
• Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award recipients
• Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
• Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
• Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
• People from Seville, Ohio
• Engineers from Ohio