On February 3, 2023, a remarkable scientist, Boris Theodorovich Polyak, passed away. Boris Teodorovich was born on May 4, 1935 in Moscow, where he lived all his life. In 1958 he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Steel. In 1963 he completed postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University. In 1964, he defended his PhD thesis on the study of methods such as gradient descent in abstract functional spaces. He worked as a junior, and then as a senior researcher at the computing center of MSU. Since 1971 and until the last days he worked at the Institute of Management Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences: senior, leading, chief researcher, then head of the laboratory. In 1978 he defended his doctoral dissertation, in which he investigated the issues of stochastic approximation. Since 2011, Boris Teodorovich has been an employee of the Physics and Technology School of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science (FPMI) at MIPT.
Cooperation with MIPT continued until his last days. Boris Teodorovich has published articles with colleagues from MIPT, including students. The last of the PhD thesis under his scientific supervision of sciences was defended by a graduate of the FPMI less than two months ago. Boris Teodorovich was one of the main performers of a large RNF project carried out at the MIPT School of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. Its traditional optimization summer schools consisted of two-thirds of MIPT students and graduates. It is difficult to overestimate the influence that Boris Teodorovich had on the formation and consolidation of the modern version of the direction of numerical optimization methods and their applications to data analysis as one of the most popular and actively developed areas of the university school of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science and MIPT in general.
It is no less difficult to overestimate Boris Teodorovich's contribution to the development of numerical optimization methods. Perhaps he was the most famous Soviet scientist in the world in this field. His articles and books (especially the book «Introduction to Optimization» — it is still one of the main sources for lectures on numerical optimization methods at the Physics and Technology School of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science) have brought up many generations of specialists not only in the USSR and Russia, but throughout the world. One of the most famous world-class scientists in the field of numerical optimization methods in recent years is Yu. E. Nesterov, who defended his PhD thesis in 1983 under the supervision of B. T. Polyak.
The Pole— Shore step in gradient descent for non—smooth optimization problems, the projection method for finding a common point of sets, the heavy ball method (which became the forerunner of all modern accelerated/moment convex optimization methods), the Pole conjugate gradient method, the Pole- Loyasievich gradient dominance condition (one of the most popular relaxation concepts of strong convexity), optimal stochastic Pole aggregation algorithms — Tsypkin, robust Nyquist criterion, the method of choosing steps and averaging the Pole — Ruppert —Yuditsky — all of that was invented by Boris Polyak. It should be noted that more than half of the above list is not just included in the golden fund of modern numerical optimization methods, but has taken a worthy place in many modern textbooks and courses on this topic. In other words, what today's students are taught in the courses of numerical optimization methods not only follows the tradition of presentation laid down by Boris Teodorovich, but also in terms of content represents a significant part of his scientific results.
It is impossible to convey in words the scale of the loss. Boris Teodorovich led a very active lifestyle: literally until the last days he participated in various scientific events and invariably radiated positive emotions. He loved to study and studied all his life. He loved to work and did a lot. Boris Teodorovich was kind, but at the same time a principled man, who was never afraid of anyone, of anything. He never aspired to fame, awards, prizes. Boris Teodorovich led, in general, a modest, but very decent lifestyle. Everyone who knew him, who was lucky enough to be acquainted with him, can say only good things about him and will always keep good memories of him. Boris Teodorovich was our contemporary, our colleague. His work determines and will determine the development of optimization, data analysis, and management theory for many decades, and possibly centuries to come.
Farewell to Boris Theodorovich Pole will take place on Wednesday, February 8 at 12:30 in the farewell hall of the Troyekurovsky cemetery. At 14:30, a burial will take place at the North Vostryakovsky Cemetery (plot 92). At 16:30, the wake begins in the dining room of the Institute of Management Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (65, Trade Union Street). The Institute has a pass regime, if you are not an Institute employee, you must indicate your full name in the form by the link in advance (before 18:00 on Tuesday), and also take your passport with you to the funeral.
On February 17, an Evening of memories about Boris Teodorovich was held as part of the all-Russian optimization seminar.
An article about the Scientific path of Boris Theodorovich Polyak has also been prepared for the journal Computer Research and Modeling.