Ted Hill (mathematician)

Theodore Preston Hill (born December 28, 1943) is an American mathematician known for his research on mathematical probability theory, in particular for his work on Benford's law, and for his work in the theories of optimal stopping (secretary problems) and fair division.

Born in Flatbush, New York, he studied at the United States Military Academy at West Point (Distinguished Graduate of the Class of 1966), and Stanford University (M.S. in Operations Research). After surviving the U.S. Army Ranger School and serving as an Army Captain in the Combat Engineers of the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam, he returned to study mathematics at the University of Göttingen (Fulbright Scholar), the University of California at Berkeley (M.A., Ph.D. under advisor Lester Dubins), and as NATO/NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Leiden University.

He spent most of his career as a professor in the School of Mathematics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, with temporary appointments at Washington University, Tel Aviv University, the University of Hawaii, the University of Göttingen (Fulbright Professor), the University of Costa Rica, the Free University of Amsterdam, the Mexican Centre for Mathematical Research (CIMAT), and as Gauss Professor in the Göttingen Academy of Sciences. He is currently Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Georgia Institute of Technology, Adjunct Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of New Mexico, and Research Scholar in Residence at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Selected publications