Dr. William J. Browning was one of seven School of Science alumni who returned to Purdue's West Lafayette campus on April 21 to receive Distinguished Alumni Awards. The awards were established in 1990 to recognize outstanding achievement in professional and related fields of endeavor.
Browning earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue in 1968, 1969, and 1974. He wrote his Ph.D. thesis in optimal control theory under the direction of Professor Leonard D. Berkovitz. He is president of Applied Mathematics, Inc., Gales Ferry, CT, and Raleigh, NC, which he founded in 1980. Applied Mathematics, Inc. develops and implements mathematical models which are used by clients to improve their decision making processes.
Browning's work has focused on applications of mathematics to naval operations. He has embarked as a technical advisor on over twenty-five U.S. and United Kingdom nuclear submarines conducting operations throughout the world, has flown in a variety of naval aircraft conducting search operations, and assisted in the Suez Canal search for unexploded ordnance. Browning is the author of numerous technical reports in the areas of search, tracking, and signal processing. In 1980, he was awarded the Meritorious Public Service Citation by the Chief of Naval Operations for his contributions to anti-submarine search theory and sonar development.