# Bill Gropp

> American computer scientist

**Wikidata**: [Q4150370](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4150370)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gropp)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/bill-gropp

## Summary
Bill Gropp is an American computer scientist and engineer specializing in high-performance scientific computing. He is known for his contributions to message-passing protocols and the development of MPI, and he has held academic and national-laboratory appointments at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, Yale University, and Argonne National Laboratory.

## Biography
- Born: 1955-09-23
- Nationality: United States
- Education: Stanford University; Case Western Reserve University; University of Washington
- Known for: Contributions to algorithms and software for high-performance scientific computing, including work on message-passing protocols and the development of MPI
- Employer(s): University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign; Yale University; Argonne National Laboratory
- Field(s): Computer science; high-performance scientific computing; engineering; research

## Contributions
William D. Gropp has made sustained contributions to software, algorithms, and standards for high-performance scientific computing. He is explicitly cited for contributions to message-passing protocols and the development of MPI (Message Passing Interface), a foundational parallel programming standard used widely in scientific computing. His work in algorithms and software for high-performance computing has been recognized by major awards and fellowships, including the ACM Fellowship (for contributions to message passing protocols), the Sidney Fernbach Award (2008) for computational achievements, and the Ken Kennedy Award (2016). Gropp is an active author and researcher with entries in bibliographic and author databases (DBLP, Google Scholar, MR Author ID, Scopus), and he has supervised doctoral students (doctoral student listed: Hormozd Gahvari) with doctoral training under advisor Joseph Oliger. He has held faculty and research positions at Yale University, the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and Argonne National Laboratory, contributing to both academic software and community standards used across supercomputing centers and research institutions.

## FAQs
### Q: Who is Bill Gropp?
A: Bill Gropp is an American computer scientist and engineer known for work in high-performance scientific computing and for contributions to message-passing protocols and the development of MPI.

### Q: What is he best known for?
A: He is best known for contributions to message-passing protocols and the development of the Message Passing Interface (MPI), and for his algorithms and software for high-performance scientific computing.

### Q: Where has he worked?
A: He has been employed by the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, Yale University, and Argonne National Laboratory.

### Q: What notable awards has he received?
A: He has received multiple honors including the Sidney Fernbach Award (2008), ACM Fellowship (for contributions to message passing), SIAM Fellowship (2011), Ken Kennedy Award (2016), and election as an AAAS Fellow (2018).

## Why They Matter
Bill Gropp's work addresses a core challenge in computational science: enabling efficient, portable parallel programs for large-scale scientific applications. His documented contributions to message-passing protocols and the development of MPI helped establish standardized ways for distributed-memory parallel programs to communicate. That standardization enabled broader adoption of parallel computing across scientific domains by making code more portable and by fostering a shared software ecosystem. The awards and fellowships he has received (Sidney Fernbach Award, ACM Fellow recognition for message-passing contributions, SIAM Fellowship citation for algorithms and software) reflect community recognition that his work influenced both software infrastructure and research practice. As a researcher, advisor, and author with records in DBLP, Google Scholar, and other bibliographic databases, he has influenced students and peers in high-performance computing. Without the contributions he is cited for, the interoperability and widespread deployment of message-passing based parallel applications would have been harder to achieve, and the collective progress in scalable scientific computing software and standards would have been slower.

## Notable For
- Recognized for contributions to message-passing protocols and the development of the Message Passing Interface (MPI).
- Recipient of the Sidney Fernbach Award (2008) for accomplishments in high-performance computing.
- Named ACM Fellow for contributions to message passing protocols (ACM Fellowship cited).
- Awarded the Ken Kennedy Award (2016) for leadership and contributions to programmability and productivity in high-performance computing.
- Elected Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2011) for contributions to algorithms and software for high-performance scientific computing.

## Body

### Personal and identity
- Full name variants: Bill Gropp; William Gropp; William D. Gropp.
- Born on 1955-09-23.
- Citizenship: United States.

### Education and training
- Educated at:
  - University of Washington (listed as educated_at)
  - Case Western Reserve University (listed as educated_at)
  - Stanford University (listed as educated_at)
- Doctoral advisor: Joseph Oliger.
- Doctoral students include Hormozd Gahvari.

### Career and affiliations
- Employers and major affiliations:
  - Yale University (employer)
  - University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign (employer; listed faculty page)
  - Argonne National Laboratory (employer)
  - Member of professional societies: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).

### Research and technical contributions
- Documented contributions to message-passing protocols.
- Cited involvement in the development of MPI (Message Passing Interface), a key standard for parallel programming in distributed-memory environments.
- Recognized for algorithms and software for high-performance scientific computing (SIAM fellowship citation).
- Active scholarly presence: DBLP author ID, Google Scholar author ID, Math Genealogy Project entry, Scopus author ID.

### Awards and honors (selected)
- Sidney Fernbach Award, 2008.
- ACM Fellow (recognized for contributions to message passing protocols; fellowship noted in 2006/2007 materials).
- SIAM Fellow, 2011 (for contributions to algorithms and software for high-performance scientific computing, including the development of MPI).
- Ken Kennedy Award, 2016.
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2018).
- IEEE Fellow (listed).

### Identifiers and online presence
- Personal website: http://www.cs.illinois.edu/~wgropp
- ISNI: 0000000109797755
- VIAF: 62740246
- GND: 133539989
- DBLP author ID: g/WilliamGropp
- Google Scholar author ID: vB96fX8AAAAJ
- Wikipedia title: Bill Gropp
- Other library and author identifiers available (MR Author ID, Scopus ID, etc.).

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## References

1. Mathematics Genealogy Project
2. [Source](https://cs.illinois.edu/about/people/faculty/wgropp)
3. [Source](https://www.computer.org/profiles/william-gropp)
4. [Source](https://www.acm.org/articles/people-of-acm/2014/william-d-gropp)
5. [Source](https://www.acm.org/media-center/2007/january/acm-names-41-fellows-for-contributions-to-computing-and-it)
6. [Source](https://www.siam.org/prizes-recognition/fellows-program/all-siam-fellows?page=2)
7. [Source](https://www.aaas.org/news/aaas-honors-accomplished-scientists-2018-elected-fellows)
8. [Source](https://awards.acm.org/kennedy/award-recipients)
9. Virtual International Authority File
10. CiNii Research
11. [Source](https://www.siam.org/prizes-recognition/fellows-program/all-siam-fellows)
12. ORCID iD
13. [ORCID Public Data File 2020](https://pub.orcid.org/v3.0_rc1/0000-0003-2905-3029/researcher-urls/580353)
14. National Library of Israel Names and Subjects Authority File