Editing Ron Rivest

{{Short description|American cryptographer}}
{{Redirect|Rivest|other people with the same name|Rivest (surname)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Use American English|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = 
| image             = Ronald L Rivest photo.jpg
| caption           = Rivest in 2012
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1947|5|6|mf=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Schenectady, New York]], U.S.
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| nationality       = American
| field             = {{Plainlist|
* [[Algorithm]]s
* [[Cryptography]]
* [[Machine learning]]
* [[Election security]]
}}
| work_institution  = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
| education         = [[Yale University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[Stanford University]] ([[Master of Science|MS]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| thesis_title      = Analysis of associative retrieval algorithms
| thesis_url        = http://worldcat.org/oclc/897011820
| thesis_year       = 1974
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Robert W. Floyd]]
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Avrim Blum]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Benny Chor]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Sally Goldman]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Burt Kaliski]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Andrea LaPaugh]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Anna Lysyanskaya]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Ron Pinter]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Robert Schapire]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Alan Sherman]]<ref name=mathgene/>
* [[Mona Singh (scientist)|Mona Singh]]<ref name=monaphd>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Mona|last=Singh |title=Learning algorithms with applications to robot navigation and protein folding |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |date=1996 |oclc=680493381  |hdl=1721.1/40579}} {{free access}}</ref>
}}
| known_for         = [[Public-key]]<br /> [[RSA (algorithm)|RSA]], [[RC2]], [[RC4 (cipher)|RC4]], [[RC5]], [[RC6]]<br />[[MD2 (cryptography)|MD2]], [[MD4]], [[MD5]], [[MD6]], [[Ring signature]]
| author_abbreviation_bot = 
| author_abbreviation_zoo = 
| prizes            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Paris Kanellakis Award]] (1996)
* [[Turing Award]] (2002)
* [[Marconi Prize]] (2007)
* [[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards]] (2017)
* [[National Inventors Hall of Fame]] (2018)}}
| religion          = 
| footnotes         = 
| website           = {{URL|https://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/}}
}}

'''Ronald Linn Rivest''' ({{IPAc-en|r|ɪ|ˈ|v|ɛ|s|t}};<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/gMc9fHvc78Y Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140707034735/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMc9fHvc78Y Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMc9fHvc78Y&t=1m7s|title=The Cryptographers' Panel|last=RSA Conference|date=25 February 2014|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/WDGh3-1itPw Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20190311174316/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDGh3-1itPw&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDGh3-1itPw&t=1m| title = Faculty Forum Online: Ron Rivest | website=[[YouTube]]| date = October 15, 2015 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>
born May 6, 1947) is an American [[cryptography|cryptographer]] and computer scientist whose work has spanned the fields of algorithms and combinatorics, cryptography, machine learning, and election integrity.
He is an [[List of Institute Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology|Institute Professor]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.mit.edu/2015/chisholm-rivest-thompson-institute-professors-0629|newspaper=MIT News|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|title=Chisholm, Rivest, and Thompson appointed as new Institute Professors: Biologist, computer scientist, and musician awarded MIT's highest faculty honor|first=Peter|last=Dizikes|date=June 29, 2015}}</ref>
and a member of MIT's [[MIT School of Engineering#Electrical Engineering and Computer Science|Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science]] and its [[MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory]].

Along with [[Adi Shamir]] and [[Len Adleman]], Rivest is one of the inventors of the [[RSA (algorithm)|RSA]] algorithm.
He is also the inventor of the [[symmetric key]] encryption algorithms [[RC2]], [[RC4 (cipher)|RC4]], and [[RC5]], and co-inventor of [[RC6]]. (''RC'' stands for "Rivest Cipher".) He also devised the [[MD2 (cryptography)|MD2]], [[MD4]], [[MD5]] and [[MD6]] [[cryptographic hash function]]s.

==Education==
Rivest earned a [[bachelor's degree]] in mathematics from [[Yale University]] in 1969, and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] degree in computer science from [[Stanford University]] in 1974 for research supervised by [[Robert W. Floyd]].<ref name=mathgene>{{MathGenealogy|id=50081}}</ref>

==Career==
At MIT, Rivest is a member of the Theory of Computation Group, and founder of MIT CSAIL's Cryptography and Information Security Group.

Rivest was a founder of [[RSA Data Security]] (now merged with Security Dynamics to form [[RSA Security]]), [[Verisign]], and of [[Peppercoin]].

His former doctoral students include [[Avrim Blum]], [[Benny Chor]], [[Sally Goldman]], [[Burt Kaliski]], [[Anna Lysyanskaya]], [[Ron Pinter]], [[Robert Schapire]], [[Alan Sherman]],<ref name=mathgene/>
and [[Mona Singh (scientist)|Mona Singh]].<ref name=monaphd/>

==Research==
Rivest is especially known for his research in [[cryptography]]. He has also made significant contributions to [[algorithm]] design, to the [[computational complexity]] of [[machine learning]], and to [[election security]].

===Cryptography===
The publication of the [[RSA (cryptosystem)|RSA cryptosystem]] by Rivest, [[Adi Shamir]], and [[Leonard Adleman]] in 1978{{ran|C1}} revolutionized modern cryptography by providing the first usable and publicly described method for [[public-key cryptography]]. The three authors won the 2002 [[Turing Award]], the top award in computer science, for this work. The award cited "their ingenious contribution to making public-key cryptography useful in practice".<ref name=turing>{{cite web|url=https://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/rivest_1403005.cfm|title=Ronald (Ron) Linn Rivest|work=ACM Turing Award laureates|publisher=Association for Computing Machinery|access-date=2023-04-15}}</ref> The same paper that introduced this cryptosystem also introduced [[Alice and Bob]], the fictional heroes of many subsequent [[cryptographic protocol]]s.<ref>{{cite journal
 | last = Hayes | first = Brian | author-link = Brian Hayes (scientist)
 | date = September–October 2012
 | department = Computing science
 | doi = 10.1511/2012.98.362
 | issue = 5
 | journal = [[American Scientist]]
 | jstor = 43707638
 | page = 362
 | publisher = Sigma Xi
 | title = Alice and Bob in cipherspace
 | volume = 100}}</ref> In the same year, Rivest, Adleman, and [[Michael Dertouzos]] first formulated [[homomorphic encryption]] and its applications in secure [[cloud computing]],{{ran|C2}} an idea that would not come to fruition until over 40 years later when secure homomorphic encryption algorithms were finally developed.<ref>{{cite book
 | last1 = Yi | first1 = Xun
 | last2 = Paulet | first2 = Russell
 | last3 = Bertino | first3 = Elisa | author3-link = Elisa Bertino
 | doi = 10.1007/978-3-319-12229-8
 | publisher = Springer International Publishing
 | series = Springer Briefs in Computer Science
 | title = Homomorphic Encryption and Applications
 | year = 2014| isbn = 978-3-319-12228-1
 | s2cid = 11182158
 }} See especially p. 47: "The concept of FHE was introduced by Rivest under the name privacy homomorphisms. The problem of constructing a scheme with these properties remained unsolved until 2009, when Gentry presented his breakthrough result."</ref>

Rivest was one of the inventors of the [[GMR (cryptography)|GMR public signature scheme]], published with [[Shafi Goldwasser]] and [[Silvio Micali]] in 1988,{{ran|C3}}<ref>{{cite book
 | last1 = Menezes | first1 = Alfred J. | author1-link = Alfred Menezes
 | last2 = van Oorschot | first2 = Paul C. | author2-link = Paul van Oorschot
 | last3 = Vanstone | first3 = Scott A. | author3-link = Scott Vanstone
 | chapter = 11.6.4 The GMR one-time signature scheme
 | chapter-url = https://cacr.uwaterloo.ca/hac/about/chap11.pdf
 | isbn = 0-8493-8523-7
 | pages = 468–471
 | publisher = CRC Press
 | title = Handbook of Applied Cryptography
 | year = 1996}}</ref>
and of [[ring signature]]s, an anonymized form of [[group signature]]s invented with Shamir and [[Yael Tauman Kalai]] in 2001.{{ran|C7}} He designed the [[MD4]] and [[MD5]] [[cryptographic hash function]]s, published in 1990 and 1992 respectively,{{ran|C4}}{{ran|C5}} and a sequence of [[symmetric key]] [[block cipher]]s that include [[RC2]], [[RC4]], [[RC5]], and [[RC6]].{{ran|C6}}{{ran|C8}}

Other contributions of Rivest to cryptography include [[chaffing and winnowing]], the [[interlock protocol]] for authenticating [[Key-agreement protocol|anonymous key-exchange]], cryptographic [[time capsule]]s such as [[LCS35]] based on anticipated improvements to computation speed through [[Moore's law]], [[key whitening]] and its application through the [[xor–encrypt–xor]] key mode in extending the Data Encryption Standard to [[DES-X]], and the [[Peppercoin]] system for cryptographic [[micropayment]]s.

===Algorithms===
In 1973, Rivest and his coauthors published the first [[selection algorithm]] that achieved [[linear time]] without using [[randomization]].{{ran|A1}}<ref>{{cite conference
 | last = Paterson | first = Mike | author-link = Mike Paterson
 | editor1-last = Karlsson | editor1-first = Rolf G.
 | editor2-last = Lingas | editor2-first = Andrzej
 | contribution = Progress in selection
 | doi = 10.1007/3-540-61422-2_146
 | pages = 368–379
 | publisher = Springer
 | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science
 | title = Algorithm Theory – SWAT '96, 5th Scandinavian Workshop on Algorithm Theory, Reykjavík, Iceland, July 3–5, 1996, Proceedings
 | volume = 1097
 | year = 1996| isbn = 978-3-540-61422-7 }}</ref> Their algorithm, the [[median of medians]] method, is commonly taught in algorithms courses.<ref>{{cite journal
 | last = Gurwitz | first = Chaya
 | doi = 10.1109/13.144650
 | issue = 3
 | journal = IEEE Transactions on Education
 | pages = 230–232
 | title = On teaching median-finding algorithms
 | volume = 35
 | year = 1992| bibcode = 1992ITEdu..35..230G
 }}</ref> Rivest is also one of the two namesakes of the [[Floyd–Rivest algorithm]], a randomized selection algorithm that achieves a near-optimal number of comparisons.{{ran|A2}}<ref>{{cite journal
 | last1 = Cunto | first1 = Walter
 | last2 = Munro | first2 = J. Ian | author2-link = Ian Munro (computer scientist)
 | doi = 10.1145/62044.62047
 | issue = 2
 | journal = [[Journal of the ACM]]
 | mr = 1072421
 | pages = 270–279
 | title = Average case selection
 | volume = 36
 | year = 1989| s2cid = 10947879
 | doi-access = free
 }}</ref>

Rivest's 1974 doctoral dissertation concerned the use of [[hash table]]s to quickly match [[partial word]]s in documents; he later published this work as a journal paper.{{ran|A3}} His research from this time on [[self-organizing list]]s{{ran|A4}} became one of the important precursors to the development of [[Competitive analysis (online algorithm)|competitive analysis]] for [[online algorithm]]s.<ref>{{cite journal
 | last1 = Sleator | first1 = Daniel D. | author1-link = Daniel Sleator
 | last2 = Tarjan | first2 = Robert E. | author2-link = Robert Tarjan
 | doi = 10.1145/2786.2793
 | issue = 2
 | journal = [[Communications of the ACM]]
 | mr = 777385
 | pages = 202–208
 | title = Amortized efficiency of list update and paging rules
 | volume = 28
 | year = 1985| s2cid = 2494305 | doi-access = free
 }}</ref> In the early 1980s, he also published well-cited research on two-dimensional [[bin packing problem]]s,{{ran|A5}} and on [[channel routing]] in [[VLSI design]].{{ran|A6}}

He is a co-author of ''[[Introduction to Algorithms]]'' (also known as ''CLRS''), a standard textbook on algorithms, with [[Thomas H. Cormen]], [[Charles E. Leiserson]] and [[Clifford Stein]]. First published in 1990, it has extended into four editions, the latest in 2022.{{ran|A7}}

===Learning===
In the problem of [[decision tree learning]], Rivest and Laurent Hyafil proved that it is [[NP-complete]] to find a decision tree that identifies each of a collection of objects through binary-valued questions (as in the [[parlor game]] of [[twenty questions]]) and that minimizes the [[expected value|expected number]] of questions that will be asked.{{ran|L1}} With [[Avrim Blum]], Rivest also showed that even for very simple [[Artificial neural network|neural networks]] it can be NP-complete to train the network by finding weights that allow it to solve a given classification task correctly.{{ran|L3}} Despite these negative results, he also found methods for efficiently inferring [[decision list]]s,{{ran|L2}} decision trees,{{ran|L4}} and [[finite automaton|finite automata]].{{ran|L5}}

===Elections===
A significant topic in Rivest's more recent research has been [[election security]], based on the principle of [[software independence]]: that the security of elections should be founded on physical records, so that hidden changes to software used in voting systems cannot result in undetectable changes to election outcomes. His research in this area includes improving the robustness of [[mix network]]s in this application,{{ran|V1}} the 2006 invention of the [[ThreeBallot]] paper ballot based [[End-to-end auditable voting systems|end-to-end auditable voting system]] (which he released into [[public domain]] in the interest of promoting democracy),{{ran|V2}}<ref name=turing/> and the development of the [[Scantegrity]] security system for [[optical scan voting system]]s.{{ran|V3}}

He was a member of the [[Technical Guidelines Development Committee|Election Assistance Commission's Technical Guidelines Development Committee]].<ref name="NIST">{{cite web|url=http://vote.nist.gov/tgdcmem.htm|title=TGDC members |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608071658/http://vote.nist.gov/tgdcmem.htm |archive-date=2007-06-08 |publisher=[[National Institute of Standards and Technology]]|date=2009-05-06 }}</ref>

==Honors and awards==
Rivest is a member of the [[National Academy of Engineering]], the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]], and is a Fellow of the [[Association for Computing Machinery]], the [[International Association for Cryptologic Research]], and the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]. Together with [[Adi Shamir]] and [[Len Adleman]], he has been awarded the 2000 [[IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award]] and the Secure Computing Lifetime Achievement Award. He also shared with them the [[Turing Award]]. Rivest has received an honorary degree (the "laurea honoris causa") from the [[Sapienza University of Rome]].<ref name="bio">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120105044726/http://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/bio.html Biography]. Archived from [http://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/bio.html the original] on 2011-12-06.</ref> In 2005, he received the MITX Lifetime Achievement Award.  Rivest was named in 2007 the Marconi Fellow, and on May 29, 2008, he also gave the Chesley lecture at [[Carleton College]]. He was named an Institute Professor at MIT in June 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.mit.edu/2015/chisholm-rivest-thompson-institute-professors-0629|title=Chisholm, Rivest, and Thompson appointed as new Institute Professors|website=MIT News &#124; Massachusetts Institute of Technology|date=June 29, 2015 }}</ref>

==Selected publications==
Rivest's publications include:

===Algorithms===
{{rma|A1|{{cite journal
 | last1 = Blum | first1 = Manuel | author1-link = Manuel Blum
 | last2 = Floyd | first2 = Robert W. | author2-link = Robert W. Floyd
 | last3 = Pratt | first3 = Vaughan | author3-link = Vaughan Pratt
 | last4 = Rivest | first4 = Ronald L. | author4-link = Ron Rivest
 | last5 = Tarjan | first5 = Robert E. | author5-link = Robert Tarjan
 | doi = 10.1016/S0022-0000(73)80033-9 | doi-access = free
 | journal = [[Journal of Computer and System Sciences]]
 | mr = 329916
 | pages = 448–461
 | title = Time bounds for selection
 | url = http://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/pubs/BFPRT73.pdf
 | volume = 7
 | year = 1973| issue = 4 }} Previously announced as "Linear time bounds for median computations", STOC 1972.}}

{{rma|A2|{{cite journal
 | last1 = Floyd | first1 = Robert W. | author1-link = Robert W. Floyd
 | last2 = Rivest | first2 = Ronald L. | author2-link = Ron Rivest
 | date = March 1975
 | doi = 10.1145/360680.360691
 | issue = 3
 | journal = [[Communications of the ACM]]
 | pages = 165–172
 | s2cid = 3064709
 | title = Expected time bounds for selection
 | volume = 18| doi-access = free
 }} See also "Algorithm 489: the algorithm SELECT—for finding the {{nowrap|<math>i</math>th}} smallest of <math>n</math> elements", p. 173, {{doi|10.1145/360680.360694}}.}}

{{rma|A3|{{cite journal
 | last = Rivest | first = Ronald L.
 | doi = 10.1137/0205003
 | issue = 1
 | journal = [[SIAM Journal on Computing]]
 | mr = 395398
 | pages = 19–50
 | title = Partial-match retrieval algorithms
 | volume = 5
 | year = 1976}} Previously announced at the 15th Annual Symposium on Switching and Automata Theory, 1974.}}

{{rma|A4|{{cite journal
 | last = Rivest | first = Ronald
 | doi = 10.1145/359997.360000
 | issue = 2
 | journal = [[Communications of the ACM]]
 | mr = 0408303
 | pages = 63–67
 | title = On self-organizing sequential search heuristics
 | volume = 19
 | year = 1976| s2cid = 498886
 | doi-access = free
 }} Previously announced at the 15th Annual Symposium on Switching and Automata Theory, 1974.}}

{{rma|A5|{{cite journal
 | last1 = Baker | first1 = Brenda S. | author1-link = Brenda Baker
 | last2 = Coffman | first2 = E. G. Jr. | author2-link = Edward G. Coffman Jr.
 | last3 = Rivest | first3 = Ronald L.
 | doi = 10.1137/0209064
 | issue = 4
 | journal = [[SIAM Journal on Computing]]
 | mr = 592771
 | pages = 846–855
 | title = Orthogonal packings in two dimensions
 | volume = 9
 | year = 1980| citeseerx = 10.1.1.309.8883}}}}

{{rma|A6|{{cite conference
 | last1 = Rivest | first1 = Ronald L.
 | last2 = Fiduccia | first2 = Charles M.
 | editor1-last = Crabbe | editor1-first = James S.
 | editor2-last = Radke | editor2-first = Charles E.
 | editor3-last = Ofek | editor3-first = Hillel
 | contribution = A "greedy" channel router
 | doi = 10.1145/800263.809239
 | pages = 418–424
 | publisher = ACM and IEEE
 | title = Proceedings of the 19th Design Automation Conference, DAC '82, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, June 14–16, 1982
 | year = 1982| isbn = 0-89791-020-6
 }}}}

{{rma|A7|{{Introduction to Algorithms|edition=1}} 2nd edition, with [[Clifford Stein]], 2001. 3rd edition, 2009. 4th edition, 2022.}}

===Cryptography===
{{rma|C1|{{cite journal
 | last1 = Rivest | first1 = R. L.
 | last2 = Shamir | first2 = A. | author2-link = Adi Shamir
 | last3 = Adleman | first3 = L. | author3-link = Leonard Adleman
 | doi = 10.1145/359340.359342
 | issue = 2
 | journal = [[Communications of the ACM]]
 | mr = 700103
 | pages = 120–126
 | title = A method for obtaining digital signatures and public-key cryptosystems
 | volume = 21
 | year = 1978| s2cid = 2873616
 | doi-access = free
 | hdl = 1721.1/148910
 | hdl-access = free
 }}}}

{{rma|C2|{{cite book
 | last1 = Rivest | first1 = R.
 | last2 = Adleman | first2 = L. | author2-link = Leonard Adleman
 | last3 = Dertouzos | first3 = M. | author3-link = Michael Dertouzos
 | editor-last = DeMillo | editor-first = Richard A.
 | chapter = On data banks and privacy homomorphisms
 | pages = 169–177
 | publisher = Academic Press
 | title = Foundations of Secure Computation
 | year = 1978}}}}

{{rma|C3|{{cite journal
 | last1 = Goldwasser | first1 = Shafi | author1-link = Shafi Goldwasser
 | last2 = Micali | first2 = Silvio | author2-link = Silvio Micali
 | last3 = Rivest | first3 = Ronald L.
 | doi = 10.1137/0217017
 | issue = 2
 | journal = [[SIAM Journal on Computing]]
 | mr = 935341
 | pages = 281–308
 | title = A digital signature scheme secure against adaptive chosen-message attacks
 | volume = 17
 | year = 1988| s2cid = 1715998 }} Previously announced as "A 'paradoxical' solution to the signature problem", FOCS 1984 and CRYPTO 1984.}}

{{rma|C4|{{cite RFC|last=Rivest|first=Ronald L.|rfc=1186|title=The MD4 Message Digest Algorithm|publisher=Network Working Group|date=October 1990}}}}

{{rma|C5|{{cite RFC|last=Rivest|first=Ronald L.|rfc=1321|title=The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm|publisher=Network Working Group|date=April 1992}}}}

{{rma|C6|{{cite RFC|last=Rivest|first=Ronald L.|rfc=2268|title=A Description of the RC2(r) Encryption Algorithm|publisher=Network Working Group|date=March 1998}}}}

{{rma|C7|{{cite conference
 | last1 = Rivest | first1 = Ronald L.
 | last2 = Shamir | first2 = Adi | author2-link = Adi Shamir
 | last3 = Tauman | first3 = Yael | author3-link = Yael Tauman Kalai
 | editor-last = Boyd | editor-first = Colin
 | contribution = How to Leak a Secret
 | doi = 10.1007/3-540-45682-1_32
 | pages = 552–565
 | publisher = Springer
 | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science
 | title = Advances in Cryptology – ASIACRYPT 2001, 7th International Conference on the Theory and Application of Cryptology and Information Security, Gold Coast, Australia, December 9–13, 2001, Proceedings
 | volume = 2248
 | year = 2001| doi-access = free
 | isbn = 978-3-540-42987-6
 }}}}

{{rma|C8|{{cite conference
 | last = Rivest | first = Ronald L.
 | editor-last = Preneel | editor-first = Bart
 | contribution = The RC5 encryption algorithm
 | doi = 10.1007/3-540-60590-8_7
 | pages = 86–96
 | publisher = Springer
 | series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science
 | title = Fast Software Encryption: Second International Workshop. Leuven, Belgium, 14–16 December 1994, Proceedings
 | volume = 1008
 | year = 1994| doi-access = free
 | isbn = 978-3-540-60590-4
 }}}}

===Learning===
{{rma|L1|{{cite journal
 | last1 = Hyafil | first1 = Laurent
 | last2 = Rivest | first2 = Ronald L.
 | doi = 10.1016/0020-0190(76)90095-8
 | issue = 1
 | journal = [[Information Processing Letters]]
 | mr = 413598
 | pages = 15–17
 | title = Constructing optimal binary decision trees is NP-complete
 | volume = 5
 | date = May 1976}}}}

{{rma|L2|{{cite journal
 | last = Rivest | first = Ronald L.
 | doi = 10.1007/BF00058680
 | issue = 3
 | journal = [[Machine Learning (journal)|Machine Learning]]
 | pages = 229–246
 | title = Learning decision lists
 | volume = 2
 | year = 1987| s2cid = 2840541
 | doi-access = free
 }}}}

{{rma|L3|{{cite journal
 | last1 = Blum | first1 = Avrim | author1-link = Avrim Blum
 | last2 = Rivest | first2 = Ronald L.
 | doi = 10.1016/S0893-6080(05)80010-3
 | issue = 1
 | journal = [[Neural Networks (journal)|Neural Networks]]
 | pages = 117–127
 | title = Training a 3-node neural network is NP-complete
 | volume = 5
 | year = 1992| s2cid = 8567973 }} Previously in NIPS 1988.}}

{{rma|L4|{{cite journal
 | last1 = Quinlan | first1 = J. Ross | author1-link = Ross Quinlan
 | last2 = Rivest | first2 = Ronald L.
 | doi = 10.1016/0890-5401(89)90010-2
 | issue = 3
 | journal = [[Information and Computation]]
 | mr = 984483
 | pages = 227–248
 | title = Inferring decision trees using the minimum description length principle
 | volume = 80
 | year = 1989}}}}

{{rma|L5|{{cite journal
 | last1 = Rivest | first1 = Ronald L.
 | last2 = Schapire | first2 = Robert E. | author2-link = Robert Schapire
 | doi = 10.1006/inco.1993.1021
 | issue = 2
 | journal = [[Information and Computation]]
 | mr = 1216458
 | pages = 299–347
 | title = Inference of finite automata using homing sequences
 | volume = 103
 | year = 1993| doi-access = free
 }} Previously announced at STOC 1989.}}

===Elections and voting===
{{rma|V1|{{cite conference
 | last1 = Jakobsson | first1 = Markus
 | last2 = Juels | first2 = Ari
 | last3 = Rivest | first3 = Ronald L.
 | editor-last = Boneh | editor-first = Dan
 | contribution = Making mix nets robust for electronic voting by randomized partial checking
 | contribution-url = https://www.usenix.org/publications/library/proceedings/sec02/jakobsson.html
 | location = Boston, Massachusetts
 | publisher = USENIX Association
 | pages = 339–353
 | title = Proceedings of the 11th USENIX Security Symposium, San Francisco, CA, USA, August 5-9, 2002
 | year = 2002}}}}

{{rma|V2|{{cite conference
 | last1 = Rivest | first1 = Ronald L.
 | last2 = Smith | first2 = Warren D.
 | contribution = Three voting protocols: ThreeBallot, VAV, and Twin
 | contribution-url = https://www.usenix.org/legacy/events/evt07/tech/full_papers/rivest/rivest.pdf
 | date = August 2007
 | location = Boston, Massachusetts
 | publisher = USENIX Association
 | title = 2007 USENIX/ACCURATE Electronic Voting Technology Workshop (EVT 07)}}}}

{{rma|V3|{{cite conference
 | last1 = Chaum | first1 = David | author1-link = David Chaum
 | last2 = Carback | first2 = Richard
 | last3 = Clark | first3 = Jeremy
 | last4 = Essex | first4 = Aleksander
 | last5 = Popoveniuc | first5 = Stefan
 | last6 = Rivest | first6 = Ronald L.
 | last7 = Ryan | first7 = Peter Y. A.
 | last8 = Shen | first8 = Emily
 | last9 = Sherman | first9 = Alan T.
 | editor1-last = Dill | editor1-first = David L.
 | editor2-last = Kohno | editor2-first = Tadayoshi
 | contribution = Scantegrity II: end-to-end verifiability for optical scan election systems using invisible ink confirmation codes
 | contribution-url = https://www.usenix.org/events/evt08/tech/full\_papers/chaum/chaum.pdf
 | location = Boston, Massachusetts
 | publisher = USENIX Association
 | title = 2008 USENIX/ACCURATE Electronic Voting Workshop, EVT 2008, July 28-29, 2008, San Jose, CA, USA, Proceedings
 | year = 2008}}}}

==Personal life==
His son is [[Chris Rivest]], entrepreneur and company co-founder.<ref>Cf. Acknowledgements, p.xxi, in Cormen, Rivest, et al., [https://books.google.com/books?id=NLngYyWFl_YC ''Introduction to Algorithms''], MIT Press</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ron Rivest}}
* [http://www.ipexl.com/share/fecba62ecb1bfc4a861cfb31ea1373d1 List of Ron Rivest's patents on IPEXL]
* [http://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/ Home page of Ronald L. Rivest]
* [http://www.rsasecurity.com/ Official site of RSA Security Inc.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071213115534/http://www.electiontechnology.com/who.php?id=17 Ron Rivest election research papers]
* {{Google scholar id}}

{{Kanellakis Award laureates}}
{{Turing award}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivest, Ron}}
[[Category:American cryptographers]]
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American computer security academics]]
[[Category:Public-key cryptographers]]
[[Category:Election technology people]]
[[Category:International Association for Cryptologic Research fellows]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering]]
[[Category:Turing Award laureates]]
[[Category:MIT School of Engineering faculty]]
[[Category:Scientists from Schenectady, New York]]
[[Category:1994 fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:Timothy Dwight College alumni]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Arlington, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:20th-century American engineers]]
[[Category:21st-century American engineers]]
[[Category:20th-century American scientists]]
[[Category:21st-century American scientists]]
[[Category:Mathematicians from New York (state)]]