Professor Tom Cover, one of the greatest information theorists and a wonderfully inspiring teacher and mentor, passed away in Palo Alto, California, on March 26, 2012. During his 48-year career as a professor of Electrical Engineering and Statistics at Stanford University, he graduated 63 PhD students, published over 120 journal papers in statistical learning, information theory, algorithmic complexity, and portfolio theory, and coauthored Elements of Information Theory, the most widely-cited textbook in the field since its first publication in 1991. In recognition of his seminal contributions, Tom received many awards and honors, including the 1997 Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» Richard W. Hamming Medal, the 1990 Claude E. Shannon Award, and the 1972 Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» Information Theory Paper Award. He was a Fellow of the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Thomas M. Cover was born in August 7, 1938 in San Bernardino, California. He received his B.S. degree in Physics from MIT in 1960, and his M.S. and PhD degrees from Stanford University in 1961 and 1963, respectively. He joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1964, where he was named the Kwoh-Ting Li Professor of Engineering in 1994.
Tom is survived by his wife, Karen, a son, Bill, a daughter, Cindy Black, and a stepson, Gordon Fields; brothers, Bill, Chuck, and John; and grandchildren, Carolina, Jon, Brian, and Laura.
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