Gomory is the son of Andrew L. Gomory and Marian Schellenberg. He graduated from George School in Newtown, PA in 1946. He received his
B.A. from
Williams College in 1950, studied at
Cambridge University, and received his
Ph.D. in mathematics from
Princeton University in 1954. He served in the
U.S. Navy from 1954 to 1957. While serving in the Navy, he shifted his focus to applied mathematics in
operations research. Among his mathematical achievements were founding contributions to the field of
integer programming, an active area of research to this day. He was Higgins lecturer and assistant professor at Princeton University, 1957-59. He joined the Research Division of
IBM in 1959. In 1964 he was appointed
IBM Fellow. In 1970, Gomory became Director of Research with line responsibility for IBM's Research Division. During his tenure IBM researchers made major contributions to the understanding of memory devices (
Dennard scaling), made major advances possible in high-density storage devices and produced advanced silicon processing methods. They also invented the relational database (Codd) and the
RISC computer architecture. His researchers also won two successive Nobel Prizes in Physics and it was at IBM Research that Benoit Mandelbrot created the now widely accepted concept of
fractals. He continued in a leadership role for the next 20 years eventually becoming IBM Senior Vice President for Science and Technology. In 1975, Gomory was elected a member of the
National Academy of Engineering for contributions to the fields of linear and integer programming, and leadership in the development of computer technology. After reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60 for corporate officers at IBM, Gomory became president of the
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1989. The foundation started the now-widespread program of industry studies, and launched a program advocating a more flexible workplace. It developed an approach to overcoming the problem of underrepresented minority Ph.D.’s in scientific and technical fields. Among scientific achievements, the foundation supported the widely recognized
Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has made major contributions to the problem of dark energy, and initiated a worldwide effort to survey life in the oceans known as the
Census of Marine Life. Under Gomory's leadership the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation also supported programs on public understanding of science and the development of the Professional Science Masters, designed to allow students to pursue advanced training in science or mathematics while simultaneously developing workplace skills. Currently he focuses his work on addressing the increasing complexities of the globalized economy and the differing goals of countries and companies. His 2001 book, co-written with Professor William Baumol,
Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests, focuses on the roles and responsibilities of American corporations in the modern American economy. He served on the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) from 1984 to 1992, and again from 2001 to 2009, advising three Presidents that included Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. He has also served as director of The Washington Post Company and The Bank of New York, Gomory currently blogs at
The Huffington Post and
The Wall Street Journal. ==Awards and honors==