Luckily late to class

George Bernard Dantzig was an American  Mathematical scientist who made contributions to industrial engineering , operation research , computer science , economics, and statistics .

Dantzig is known for his development of the , simplex algorithm,  an algorithm for solving  linear programming problems, and for his other work with linear programming.

Dantzig, who died in 2005, was a celebrated mathematician best known for his development of the  simplex algorithm  a popular algorithm used in linear programming to find the optimal solution to problems that can be described through linear mathematics; for example, how to maximize profits and minimize losses, or how to determine  the best diet for an army at the least cost. But part of what made his work in this field feasible was being late for class one day when he was a student.

Dantzig was studying statistics under professor Jerzy Neyman at UC Berkley’s graduate program. In an interview, Dantzig explained that “I arrived late one day at one of Neyman’s classes. On the blackboard there were two problems that I assumed had been assigned for homework. I copied them down. A few days later I apologized to Neyman for taking so long to do the homework — the problems seemed to be a little harder than usual.”

Six weeks later, Neyman rushed over to Dantzig’s house and excitedly told him that he had just written an introduction to “one of your papers. Read it so I can send it out right away for publication.” Dantzig had no idea what Neyman was talking about until he explained that the two problems on the blackboards were famously unsolved statistical problems  not homework at all.

Later on in his graduate degree, Dantzig was struggling to come up with a thesis topic. Allegedly, when Dantzig told Neyman this, the professor shrugged it off and told him to put the two math problems in a binder for submission they would count as his thesis.