Rudolf Emil Kalman was born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 19, 1930. He passed away in Gainseville, Florida (USA) on July 2, 2016. He received the bachelor's degree (S.B.) and the master's degree (S.M.) in electrical engineering, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1953 and 1954 respectively. He received the doctorate degree (D. Sci.) from Columbia University in 1957. His major positions included that of Research Mathematician at R.I.A.S. (Research Institute for Advanced Study) in Baltimore, between 1958-1964, Professor at Stanford University between 1964-1971, and from 1971 to 1992 Graduate Research Professor, and Director, at the Center for Mathematical System Theory, University of Florida, Gainesville. Moreover, from 1973 until his death he also held the chair for Mathematical System Theory at the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Zurich. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the IEEE Medal of Honor (1974), the IEEE Centennial Medal (1984), the Kyoto Prize in High Technology from the Inamori foundation, Japan (1985), the Steele Prize of the American Mathematical Society (1987), and the Bellman Prize (1997). He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), the National Academy of Engineering (USA), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (USA). He was a foreign member of the Hungarian, French, and Russian Academies of Science, and has received many honorary doctorates. He was married to Constantina nee Stavrou, and had two children, Andrew and Elisabeth.

Thanks to R. E. Kalman and Margherita Pierantoni (ETH) for updates to the above vitae.

Thanks to KuoShen Choong, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, University of Sydney, for the photo of R. E. Kalman. If you have a better one, please let me know.

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Last modified: Thursday, July 7, 2016