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C00002 00002	TO:   Angela Siddall (siddall@decwrl.DEC.COM
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TO:   Angela Siddall (siddall@decwrl.DEC.COM
FROM: RW Floyd (rwf@su-ai)
RE:   Richard Beigel


I have a high opinion of Richard Beigel. He was my teaching assistant,
twice, when still an undergraduate. He was as capable, energetic, and
responsible an assistant as I have had for five years, and comparable
to assistants I have had who are now full professors at major universities.

I consider his doctoral dissertation significant and imaginative, although
I am not fully qualified to pass judgment in his area. I believe it
opens a new area of research on oracle-based complexity. He has also
made publishable contributions in the theory of sorting, remote from
his dissertation.

Beigel lived in my house for a year. I am not known as easy to live
with, but I enjoyed the interaction, so I would say he has abundant
resources of sociability and tact.

Beigel has the instinct of the pure mathematician for elegance and
precision in intellectual work. I think he will be a significant
contributor to theoretical computer science, or related fields.