Oscar H. Ibarra

Oscar H. Ibarra is Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara since 1989, where he served as Department Chair from 1997-1999. Previously, he held faculty positions at the University of Minnesota (1969-1989) and the University of the Philippines (1975-1976).

He earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1967.

His research fundamentally advances theoretical computer science through work in algorithm design, computational complexity, and emerging paradigms like molecular and membrane computing. Key contributions span formal verification, parallel computing systems, and computational theory.

Major recognitions include:

• Guggenheim Fellowship (1984-1985)
• Triple Fellowships: IEEE (1992), AAAS (1993), ACM (1995)
• IEEE Computer Society's Harry M. Goode Award (2001)
• Blaise Pascal Medal in Computer Science (2007)
• Academia Europaea Foreign Membership (2008)

He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science and edits Theoretical Computer Science and the Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing.