MathWorks – Founders – Cleve Moler

We are saddened to share that Cleve Moler passed away on May 20, 2026, at the age of 86 at his home surrounded by his family. Cleve was chief mathematician and cofounder of MathWorks and the author of the first version of MATLAB.

In his early years, he was a professor of math and computer science for almost 20 years at the University of Michigan, Stanford University, and the University of New Mexico. During this time he was known for being one of the authors of LINPACK and EISPACK, two foundational Fortran libraries for numerical computing. One popular paper of his is “Nineteen Dubious Ways to Compute the Exponential of a Matrix.”

He is coauthor of three traditional textbooks on numerical methods and author of two online books,  Numerical Computing with MATLAB and Experiments with MATLAB.

Cleve made extraordinary contributions to the field of numerical computing. His work had a profound impact on how mathematical algorithms are developed, analyzed, and applied across science and engineering. From his early contributions to matrix computations and numerical linear algebra to the creation of MATLAB, Cleve helped make advanced computational methods more accessible, reliable, and widely used.

Cleve has also played a central role in building and nurturing the broader numerical computing community. Through his research, writing, and decades of engagement with academics and practitioners, he helped shape the direction of the field and inspired generations of researchers, educators, and engineers.

His recent election to the National Academy of Sciences and his prior election to the National Academy of Engineering are recognitions of a career that has advanced both the theory and practice of numerical computing in lasting ways.