Jonathan L. Gross

Jonathan L. Gross is a Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University, with a joint appointment in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He previously held a position at Princeton University, where he worked with Ralph Fox, and earned his Ph.D. in 3-dimensional topology from Dartmouth College, solving a problem posed by John Milnor. His undergraduate studies were at MIT.

His research spans topological graph theory, knot theory, computer graphics, and mathematical models for social anthropology. Notable contributions include the voltage graph construction for graph imbeddings and foundational work on enumerative techniques in topological graph theory. He has authored/co-authored influential books such as Topological Graph Theory and Graph Theory and Its Applications.

• Research Interests: Genus polynomials, Celtic knots, woven shapes, voltage graphs, grid-group theory, 3-manifold topology.
• Teaching: Courses include Graph Theory (COMS 4203), Combinatorial Theory (COMS 4205), and Topics in Graph Theory (COMS 6204).
• Recognition: Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, IBM Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the Columbia Great Teacher Award.

His work bridges pure mathematics and applied domains, including collaborations with artists and computer scientists on weaving algorithms and 3D modeling tools. He has developed software for performance evaluation and reusable software design at Bell Labs and IBM.