Norman Matloff

Norman Saul Matloff was born on December 16, 1948.{{citation needed |date=March 2022}} Matloff received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1975 from the mathematics department at the University of California, Los Angeles under the supervision of Thomas M. Liggett.{{Cite web|date=2002-05-10|title=Three faculty members honored for public service|url=https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/three-faculty-members-honored-public-service|access-date=2020-12-21|website=UC Davis|language=EN}}{{Mathgenealogy|id=48781}} His dissertation was titled Equilibrium Behavior in an Infinite Voting Model.

Matloff is the author of several books on computer science, statistics and programming, including

• The Art of R Programming
• The Art of Debugging with GDB, DDD and Eclipse
• Parallel Computing for Data Science: With Examples in R, C++ and Cuda
• Fast Lane to Python: A Quick, Sensible Route to the Joys of Python Coding
• Probability and Statistics for Data Science: Math + R + Data
• Statistical Regression and Classification: From Linear Models to Machine Learning
• Regression and Classification in R: A Careful, Thus Practical View

Matloff is also the author of many articles concerning machine learning, parallel computing and recommender systems. His just under 2000 citations amount to an h-index of 22.{{Cite web|title=Norman Matloff|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lu3Qzp8AAAAJ&hl=en|access-date=2020-12-21|website=scholar.google.com}}

Matloff also writes a [https://normsaysno.wordpress.com/ blog]. He views the increased use of H-1B visas{{Cite web|url=https://fortune.com/2017/05/03/h-1b-visa-infosys/|title=Stop Using Infosys As A Scapegoat For America’s H-1B Visa Abuses|last=Matloff|first=Norman|website=Fortune|date=May 3, 2017 |language=en|access-date=2024-08-08}} in the high technology field as an unnecessary practice that harms the prospects of Americans in the field. His opinions have been published in US national media relating broader policy debates about immigration,{{Cite web|url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/757489137|title=Debates on US Immigration|last1=Gans|first1=Judith|last2=Replogle|first2=Elaine|last3=Tichenor|first3=Daniel|website=WorldCat|date=August 17, 2012 |language=en|access-date=2024-08-08}} education,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/06/15/computer-sciences-sputnik-moment|title=Computer Sciences Sputnik Moment|last=Matloff|first=Norman|website=NYTimes|date=June 15, 2011 |language=en|access-date=2024-08-08}} discrimination,{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-04-19/math-wars-california-algebra2-data-science-schools-students-uc-csu|title=Opinion: How California’s ‘math wars’ are hurting Black and Latino students|last=Matloff|first=Norman|website=LATimes|date=April 19, 2024 |language=en|access-date=2024-08-08}} and business hiring practices.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/07/08/opinion/matloff-tech-ethics/index.html|title=Tech Ethics|last=Matloff|first=Norman|website=CNN|date=July 8, 2014 |language=en|access-date=2024-08-08}}

Matloff previously served as the Editor in Chief of the R Journal.{{Cite web |url=https://journal.r-project.org/archive/2019-1/RJ-2019-1.pdf |title=The R Journal, June 2019 |date=June 2019 |website=journal.r-project.org |access-date=2021-05-27}} He is the author of several software packages for the programming language R and holds a conservative view of R's development, discouraging premature exposure of students to the newer Tidyverse dialect of R.{{Citation|last=Matloff|first=Norm|title=TidyverseSkeptic|date=2022-01-07|url=https://github.com/matloff/TidyverseSkeptic/blob/615d86cb403a22b5dd157393928000cebbee5da0/READMEFull.md|access-date=2022-02-04}} His views are supported by other academic teachers of the R language including Holger K. von Juanne-Diedrich,{{Cite web|title=Why I don't use the Tidyverse – Learning Machines|date=December 10, 2019 |url=https://blog.ephorie.de/why-i-dont-use-the-tidyverse|access-date=2022-02-04|language=en-US}} Jasper McChesney{{Cite web|last=McChesney|first=Jasper|date=2020-10-15|title=How I Teach R|url=https://towardsdatascience.com/how-i-teach-r-360e19502a0b|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Medium|language=en}} and a few others. However, academic debate contains many arguments for the use of Tidyverse{{cite journal|last1=Çetinkaya-Rundel|first1=Mine|last2=Hardin|first2=Johanna|last3=Baumer|first3=Benjamin S.|last4=McNamara|first4=Amelia|last5=Horton|first5=Nicholas J.|last6=Rundel|first6=Colin|title=An educator's perspective of the tidyverse|journal=Technology Innovations in Statistics Education |year=2022 |volume=14 |doi=10.5070/T514154352 |arxiv=2108.03510|s2cid=236956878 }} and the dialect has won over most certifications in R.

In 2002, together with two colleagues, he was awarded the annual Distinguished Public Service Awards at UC Davis.

"Matloff has testified before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on immigration issues and has served as an expert witness in age-discrimination lawsuits. He has advised federal and state agencies, including the U.S. departments of Commerce and State and the White House, on employment issues. He has served on a number of panels and committees on computer-industry hiring practices sponsored by industry, academia, government and public interest groups."

• 1988: Probability Modeling and Computer Simulation: An Integrated Introduction With Applications to Engineering and Computer Science (Duxbury Series) (Wadsworth) {{ISBN|0-534-91854-9}}
• 1992: IBM Microcomputer Architecture and Assembly Language: A Look Under The Hood (Prentice Hall) {{ISBN|0-13-451998-1}}
• 2007: The Art of Debugging With Gdb/Ddd: For Professionals and Students (No Starch Press) {{ISBN|1-59327-002-X}}
• 2011: The Art of R Programming (No Starch Press) {{ISBN|1593273843}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web | url=http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/10/19/matloff/index.html | title=The scourge of Silicon Valley | date=19 October 2000 | work=Salon.com | first=Ed | last=Frauenheim | accessdate=2006-11-27 }}
• [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0309/28/nac.00.html NEXT@CNN], Matloff interviewed on subject of H1-B and immigration of technology workers 28 September 2003
• [http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/itaa.real.html Norman Matloff: "Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage"], 1998-2002

{{Wikiquote}}

• [http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/people/faculty/matloff.html UC Davis: Faculty profile]
• [http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/itaa.html Norman Matloff's H-1B and Offshoring Web Page]
• [http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/nm.html Norman Matloff's Computer Science Web Page]
• [http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/pub/Immigration/Index.html Norman Matloff's Immigration Forum]
• [http://normsaysno.wordpress.com/ Upon Closer Inspection] (Matloff blog)
• [https://gawker.com/386313/uc-professor-injects-racism-into-h-1b-debate] (Gawker)

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Category:Living people

Category:1948 births

Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni

Category:University of California, Davis faculty

Category:American whistleblowers

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Category:R (programming language) people