Václav E. Beneš

Václav Edvard "Vic" Beneš (born January 1, 1931) is a Czech-American mathematician known for his contributions to the theory of stochastic processes, queueing theory and control theory, as well as the design of telecommunications switches.

He studied under John Kemeny and gained a doctorate in mathematics at Princeton University (1953) on a treatise on ''Mathematical logic''.

He then worked for Bell Labs until 1986, contributing to Kalman filter theory as well as the Beneš network, a permutation network of the Clos network type. In the 1980s he held a position at Columbia University as well. He has continued to publish independently since 1989.

He was elected IEEE Fellow (1991) for "contributions to the structure of telephone connecting networks, stochastic control, and nonlinear filtering". The ''Benesfest'' was celebrated at Columbia University (2001) to honor his 70th birthday. He resides in Millburn, New Jersey (since 1985) where he has been a long-time mountain climber and member of the American Alpine Club, and currently heads the local historical society.

He is a relative of the former President of Czechoslovakia Edvard Beneš and politician Vojta Beneš. Emilie Benes Brzezinski, a sculptor, was his sister.

His first wife Janet was the daughter of Philip Franklin and niece of Norbert Wiener. Provided by Wikipedia