Education
Harvard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Don Coppersmith
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He was involved in the design of the Data Encryption Standard block cipher at International Business Machines Corporation, particularly the design of the South-boxes, strengthening them against differential cryptanalysis. He has also worked on algorithms for computing discrete logarithms, the cryptanalysis of Republic of South Africa , methods for rapid matrix multiplication (see Coppersmith–Winograd algorithm) and International Business Machines Corporation"s MARS cipher. Don is also a co-designer of the Sea, Air, Land and Scream ciphers.
In 1972, Coppersmith obtained a Bachelor"s degree in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Masters and Doctor of Philosophy in mathematics from Harvard University in 1975 and 1977 respectively.
He was a Putnam Fellow each year from 1968–1971, becoming the first four-time Putnam Fellow in history. In 1998, he started Ponder This, an online monthly column on mathematical puzzles and problems.
In October 2005, the column was taken over by James Shearer.
