Robert Henry Risch (born 1939) is an American mathematician who worked on computer algebra and is known for his work on symbolic integration, specifically the Risch algorithm. [1] This result was cited as a milestone in the development of mathematics:
Calculus students worldwide depend on the algorithm, whenever they appeal to Wolfram Alpha to do their homework. [2]
He is also known for results on algebraic properties of elementary functions. [3] He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968 [4] under the supervision of Maxwell A. Rosenlicht. [5] After his PhD, he worked at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center Mathematics of AI group [6] and, between 1970 and 1972, the Institute for Advanced Study. [7]