Dean G. Hoffman

Dean Gunnar Hoffman (May 8, 1949 – November 11, 2022) was an American mathematician who worked primarily in graph theory, design theory, number theory, and puzzles.

Career He began working at Auburn University in 1977 until his death in 2022.

In 2008, he was an invited speaker for the first Istanbul Design Theory and Combinatorics Conference which was held to celebrate the 70th birthday of Curt Lindner, one of his collaborators. In 2014, Hoffman was invited to give the keynote address for the 8th Annual Troy MathFest at Troy University at Montgomery.

Puzzles The Hoffman's packing puzzle is an assembly puzzle which is named after Hoffman, who described it in 1978. The puzzle consists of 27 identical rectangular cuboids, each of whose edges have three different lengths. The goal of the puzzle is to assemble them all to fit within a cube whose edge length is the sum of the three lengths.

Death and legacy He died on November 11, 2022.

His family created the Dr. Dean G. Hoffman Endowed Graduate Award in his honor. Selected publications Books

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