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Profiles in Operations Research pp 509–527Cite as

D. Ray Fulkerson

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Part of the International Series in Operations Research & Management Science book series (ISOR,volume 147)

Abstract

Ray Fulkerson’s seminal work in network flows, large-scale linear programming (LP), combinatorial optimization, and combinatorics has had an enormous influence on the practice of Operations Research (OR). His seminal book, Flows in Networks, co-written with Lester R. Ford, Jr., was instrumental in bringing network flow theory and algorithms to the domain of OR practice—in communications, transportation, supply systems—and in hastening the development of academic courses in networks, graph theory, and combinatorics. Much of his most influential work began with an application, a puzzle, or a specific computational obstacle. Pursuit of the underlying mathematical structures led Ray and his collaborators to broad and profound methodological innovations, such as cutting planes and column generation, and to the foundations of network flow theory and polyhedral combinatorics.

Keywords

  • Travel Salesman Problem
  • Column Generation
  • Multicommodity Flow
  • Linear Programming Duality
  • Subtour Elimination Constraint

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Acknowledgment

We are extremely grateful to several of Ray’s family members, friends, and admirers who assisted in providing information for this chapter, including: Michel Balinski, Len Berkovitz, Louis Billera, Wendell Fleming, Les Ford, Dick Fulkerson, Lloyd Shapley, David Shmoys, Alan Tucker, David Weinberger, Allen Ziebur, and, especially, Merle Fulkerson Guthrie. The nice presentation of Ray’s personal story in Billera and Lucas (1978) and the source material they gathered provided background material for this chapter. Some of the content here is from Bland and Orlin (2005).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Robert G. Bland

  2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    James B. Orlin

Authors
  1. Robert G. Bland
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  2. James B. Orlin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , School of Management, University at Buffalo, State University, Jacobs Management Center 160, Buffalo, 14260-4000, New York, USA

    Arjang A. Assad

  2. Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, Van Munching Hall, College Park, 20742-1915, Maryland, USA

    Saul I. Gass

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Bland, R.G., Orlin, J.B. (2011). D. Ray Fulkerson. In: Assad, A., Gass, S. (eds) Profiles in Operations Research. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 147. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6281-2_28

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