Dimitri Bertsekas, the Jerry McAfee Emeritus Professor in Engineering at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, passed away on June 3 at his home in Belmont, Massachusetts, at the age of 83. His research spanned various fields, including optimization, control, large-scale computation, reinforcement learning, and artificial intelligence. He served as a consultant for several private companies, edited for various scientific journals, founded the publishing company Athena Scientific, and was the chief scientific advisor for Bayforest Technologies.
Bertsekas’ lasting impact is evident through his authorship of over 20 influential books and a vast network of students and collaborators. He earned his undergraduate degree at the National Technical University of Athens, followed by a Master’s in electrical engineering from George Washington University and a PhD in system science from MIT. He began his academic career at Stanford University, then spent five years at the University of Illinois before returning to MIT in 1979 until 2019, when he became a full-time faculty member at Arizona State University.
His teaching style and academic rigor profoundly influenced many students. Asu Ozdaglar, head of the EECS department at MIT, stated, “Dimitri played a defining role in my career.” Former MIT student Jinane Abounadi recalled his mentorship as a highlight of her time at MIT.
Bertsekas was known for his clear and elegant writing style, which became a hallmark of his educational approach. His books, such as 'Dynamic Programming and Stochastic Control,' provided essential theoretical foundations for many researchers and had a significant impact on education. His co-author John Tsitsiklis fondly reminisced, “For Dimitri, research was a creative form, combining craftsmanship and the creativity we usually call art.”
Bertsekas’ influence can be measured by the numerous awards and honors he received, including the INFORMS Prize for Research Excellence, the ACC John R. Ragazzini Education Award, and the 2014 ACC Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award. He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2001 for his pioneering contributions to optimization/control theory.
Bertsekas leaves behind a legacy of warmth and friendship, with students and colleagues fondly remembering his humility and wisdom. He was described as a “treasure to humanity,” and his passing marks the loss of a giant in the field of computer science, whose thoughts and contributions will continue to inspire future generations.