Richard A.
Tapia, a Rice University mathematician celebrated within his field for his foundational work in the arcane but vital area of numerical optimization, and celebrated more broadly for his pioneering efforts to create opportunities in math and science for students from underrepresented communities, died on May 22 at his home in Houston.
He was 88. The cause was liver cancer, his brother Steven Tapia said. “There are a handful of people that have truly shaped the trajectory of Rice University in our nearly 115-year history,” Reginald DesRoches, the school’s president, said in a statement. “Richard Tapia was one of them.
Richard’s influence at Rice extends beyond his academic contributions as a world-renowned mathematician, encompassing diversity, advocacy, mentorship and incredible leadership.
” In 2011, President Barack Obama presented Professor Tapia with the National Medal of Science, the government’s highest honor for scientists.
The award recognized his groundbreaking work in numerical optimization, the science of finding the best possible choices out of a wide array of options to solve mathematical problems using numerical algorithms, which led to advances in areas as diverse as designing drug treatments and running chemical plants.
Professor Tapia’s “pioneering work has subsequently influenced modern approaches to transportation, supply chain management, finance and artificial intelligence,” Andrew Schaefer, a fellow professor in the university’s computational applied mathematics and operations research department, said in an interview.
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