30/05/2026
From: Jack Dongarra [email protected]
Date: May 24, 2026
Subject: Cleve Moler
With Cleve Moler’s passing, we share a profound loss for our field and for all of us who had the privilege of knowing him. Cleve was, in every sense, a gentle giant: brilliant, generous, thoughtful, and kind. He was not only a towering figure in numerical computing
but also a trusted colleague and a dear friend.
His contributions to scientific and numerical computing were extraordinary.
Through MATLAB, Cleve changed the way generations of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and students think about computation, experimentation, modeling, and problem solving. He helped make numerical methods accessible, interactive, and practical. What had once required specialized programming, considerable effort, and deep knowledge of computing systems could suddenly be explored directly and intuitively. In doing so, Cleve gave an entire community a new language for discovery.
The impact of his work is difficult to overstate. MATLAB became part of the daily practice of countless people across academia, industry, and education. It shaped how students learned linear
algebra, how engineers designed systems, how scientists tested ideas, and how researchers turned mathematical concepts into working computational tools. Cleve’s influence reached far beyond any single discipline. His work touched nearly every area where
computation and mathematics meet.
But Cleve’s legacy is not only in software, algorithms, or institutions. It is also in the people he encouraged, challenged, and inspired. He was a colleague, mentor, and friend to many. He could ask a pointed question that went directly to the heart of a matter, but always with curiosity, humor, and goodwill. Those of us
who saw him at conferences will remember that unmistakable booming voice, his careful attention to the technical details, and the warm smile that so often followed.
Cleve represented the best of our community: intellectual depth, practical insight, humility, and humanity. He helped build the foundations on which much of modern computational science rests, yet he remained approachable, generous, and deeply engaged with others.
He leaves behind a remarkable legacy, one that will continue through the tools he created, the ideas he advanced, the company he helped build, and the many people whose work and lives he influenced. We will miss his wisdom, his questions, his presence, and his insight.
We miss our friend.
Jack Dongarra, John Gilbert, and Rob Schreiber
NAdgt26n22-jun29.2026