# Alejandro López-Ortiz

> Ph.D. University of Waterloo 1996

**Wikidata**: [Q102244691](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q102244691)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/alejandro-lopez-ortiz

## Summary

Alejandro López-Ortiz was born in 1967 in Mexico City.[1][2] He died on March 12, 2017.[2] The cause of death was cancer.[2]

## Summary
Alejandro López-Ortiz was a Mexican computer scientist and university teacher who earned a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Waterloo in 1996. He served on the faculty of the University of Waterloo from 2001 until 2017 and held research and engineering roles in industry prior to and during his academic career.

## Biography
- Born: 1967, Mexico City
- Nationality: Mexico
- Education: Licentiate in mathematics, National Autonomous University of Mexico (ended 1989); Doctor of Philosophy (computer science), University of Waterloo (1996)
- Known for: Academic teaching, research and doctoral supervision in computer science; research outputs indexed in DBLP and Mathematical Reviews
- Employer(s): Open Text Corporation (1996–1998); University of New Brunswick (1998–2000); Internap (2000–2001); University of Waterloo (2001–2017)
- Field(s): Computer science; mathematics (education)

## Contributions
Alejandro López-Ortiz produced a body of research in computer science documented in bibliographic databases and supervised multiple doctoral students. He completed his Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Waterloo in 1996 under the supervision of Prabhakar Lakshman Ragde. His authorship is recorded in DBLP (dblp_author_id: l/ALopezOrtiz) and in Mathematical Reviews (mr_author_id: 354287), indicating a published research record. López-Ortiz held technical and research roles in industry at Open Text Corporation (1996–1998) and Internap (2000–2001) before and between academic appointments, demonstrating work across both industry and academia. As a university teacher and researcher at the University of New Brunswick (1998–2000) and then at the University of Waterloo (2001–2017), he supervised doctoral students including Masud Hasan, Claude-Guy Quimper, Adam Henry Polk Milstein, Reza Dorrigiv, Andrew R Curtis, Robert Fraser, Alejandro José Salinger, Mehdi Mirzazadeh, Shahin Kamali, and Heidi Jazmin Romero Gonzalez. His professional identifiers (VIAF 85539594, Library of Congress no2005074765) further document his scholarly footprint.

## FAQs
### Q: Who was Alejandro López-Ortiz?
A: Alejandro López-Ortiz was a Mexican computer scientist and university teacher who earned a Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo in 1996 and taught at the University of Waterloo from 2001 to 2017.

### Q: Where did Alejandro López-Ortiz work during his career?
A: He worked in industry at Open Text Corporation (1996–1998) and Internap (2000–2001), held an academic post at the University of New Brunswick (1998–2000), and was on the faculty of the University of Waterloo (2001–2017).

### Q: Did Alejandro López-Ortiz supervise doctoral students?
A: Yes. He supervised multiple doctoral students, including Claude-Guy Quimper, Masud Hasan, Reza Dorrigiv, and others listed in his academic record.

### Q: When and of what did he die?
A: Alejandro López-Ortiz died on 2017-03-12. The recorded cause of death is cancer and the manner of death is listed as natural causes.

## Why They Matter
Alejandro López-Ortiz mattered to computer science both as a researcher with a documented publication record and as an academic mentor. His Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo (1996) positioned him for roles across industry and academia, enabling him to bring applied engineering experience from Open Text Corporation and Internap into university teaching and research. At the University of Waterloo (2001–2017), he guided a cohort of doctoral students who completed research under his supervision; several of those students are named in the academic record. His presence in bibliographic databases (DBLP, Mathematical Reviews) and authority files (VIAF, Library of Congress) reflects a sustained scholarly output. Without his combined industry and academic roles, the specific set of doctoral students he advised and the particular research contributions recorded under his author identifiers would not exist in the same form. His career illustrates a pathway connecting technical industry practice with graduate education and peer-reviewed research in computer science.

## Notable For
- Earning a Doctor of Philosophy in computer science from the University of Waterloo in 1996 under advisor Prabhakar Lakshman Ragde.
- Serving as faculty at the University of Waterloo from 2001 until his death in 2017.
- Holding industry positions at Open Text Corporation (1996–1998) and Internap (2000–2001).
- Supervising multiple doctoral students, including Claude-Guy Quimper and Masud Hasan.
- Having a documented scholarly footprint in DBLP (dblp_author_id: l/ALopezOrtiz), Mathematical Reviews (mr_author_id: 354287), and VIAF (85539594).

## Body

### Early life and education
- Born in Mexico City in 1967.
- Completed a licentiate in mathematics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, ending in 1989.
- Completed a Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Waterloo in 1996.
- Doctoral advisor: Prabhakar Lakshman Ragde.

### Industry career
- Employed by Open Text Corporation from 1996 to 1998.
- Employed by Internap from 2000 to 2001.
- Industry roles occurred between and adjacent to academic appointments.

### Academic career
- Held an academic position at the University of New Brunswick from 1998 to 2000.
- Joined the University of Waterloo faculty in 2001 and served there until 2017.
- Occupation listed as university teacher and computer scientist.

### Research and publications
- Authored research recorded in DBLP (dblp_author_id: l/ALopezOrtiz).
- Listed in Mathematical Reviews (mr_author_id: 354287).
- Authority and library identifiers: VIAF 85539594; Library of Congress authority no2005074765.
- Specific paper titles and publication years are recorded under those bibliographic identifiers (not reproduced here).

### Doctoral students and mentoring
- Supervised doctoral students named in the academic record: Masud Hasan; Claude-Guy Quimper; Adam Henry Polk Milstein; Reza Dorrigiv; Andrew R Curtis; Robert Fraser; Alejandro José Salinger; Mehdi Mirzazadeh; Shahin Kamali; Heidi Jazmin Romero Gonzalez.
- Contributed to the academic lineage and training of researchers in computer science.

### Personal and death
- Citizenship: Mexico.
- Cause of death: cancer.
- Manner of death: natural causes.
- Died on 2017-03-12.

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## References

1. [Source](https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/news/memory-professor-alejandro-alex-lopez-ortiz)
2. Mathematics Genealogy Project
3. [Source](https://erbgood.com/tribute/details/13370/Alejandro-Lopez-Ortiz/obituary.html)