About
Edwin R. van Dam is a Professor in the Department of Econometrics and Operations Research at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious Electronic Journal of Combinatorics, a diamond open access journal (free to read and publish). His office is located in room 4.11 of the Koopmans building at Tilburg University.
Dr. van Dam completed his Master's degree at Eindhoven University of Technology in 1992 with a thesis on Steiner systems, supervised by A.E. Brouwer. He earned his Ph.D. from Tilburg University in 1996 under W.H. Haemers with research on graphs with few eigenvalues. He was a Research Fellow of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) from 2001-2006 and has been ranked among the Top 40 Dutch Economists in multiple years.
His research focuses on algebraic graph theory, combinatorics, and spectral graph theory, with significant contributions to association schemes, distance-regular graphs, and the spectral properties of complex graph structures. Dr. van Dam has published extensively in top journals including the Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Linear Algebra and its Applications, and Discrete Mathematics. His recent work (2021-2025) shows increasing focus on gain graphs, hypergraphs, and the connections between graph structure and eigenvalues, while maintaining his foundational work in algebraic combinatorics.
Dr. van Dam has received several notable recognitions:
- Research fellow of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) 2001-2006
- Top 40 Dutch Economists (ranked 31st in 2004, 34th in 2003, 18th in 2000)
- Erdös number of 2, indicating close connections to the mathematical community
He has supervised multiple Ph.D. students including Bart Husslage, Gijs Rennen, and Pepijn Wissing, often in joint supervision with prominent researchers. Dr. van Dam has collaborated with scholars from over 15 countries worldwide, reflecting the international nature of his work. His research continues to influence both theoretical developments in algebraic combinatorics and practical applications in operations research and optimization.
