Cecil C. Rousseau

{{Short description|American mathematician (1938–2020)}}

Cecil Clyde Rousseau, Jr. (January 13, 1938 Philadelphia - April 10, 2020 Memphis){{cite book|chapter=Rousseau, Cecil Clyde|title=American Men & Women of Science|year=2003|page=349|publisher=Thomson Gale|isbn=9780787665296|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4RUAAAAMAAJ&q=%22rousseau,+cecil+clyde%22}}{{cite web|title=Cecil Clyde Rousseau Jr. Obituary|website=Legacy.com Daily Memphian |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dailymemphian/name/cecil-rousseau-obituary?pid=195996606}} was a mathematician and author who specialized in graph theory and combinatorics. He was a professor at The University of Memphis starting in 1970 until retiring in 2008, and was involved with USAMO in many capacities, including serving as chair.{{cite web |url=http://www.memphis.edu/mediaroom/releases/jun12/rousseau.htm |title=Media Room :: World's Highest Mathematics Honor Goes to Retired U of M Professor :: University of Memphis |accessdate=2013-03-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305171657/http://www.memphis.edu/mediaroom/releases/jun12/rousseau.htm |archivedate=2013-03-05 }}

Rousseau received his Ph.D. in Physics in 1968 from Texas A&M University.{{MathGenealogy|id=38633}}

He has an Erdős number of 1, and is Erdős' 5th most common co-author, with 35 joint papers.Grossman, Jerry, [https://files.oakland.edu/users/grossman/enp/Erdos0p.html Erdos0p], Version 2015, [http://www.oakland.edu/enp The Erdős Number Project], Oakland University, USA, July 14, 2015. He also frequently collaborated with Memphis faculty Ralph Faudree and Dick Schelp.

In 2012, Rousseau received the Paul Erdős Award from the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wfnmc.org/erdrousseau.html|title = Cecil C Rousseau}}

To his students and colleagues, he was known affectionately as C²R.