Prof. dr. Ronald Cramer appointed member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW)
Ronald Cramer, Professor at the Mathematical Institute of Leiden University and researcher and head of the research group Cryptology at ‘Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), the national research center for mathematics and computers science in the Netherlands, is appointed as a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW).
Academy members are prominent scientists who are nominated by fellow researchers inside and outside the Academy. Earlier appointed KNAW members from the Mathematical Institute are Rob Tijdeman, Bert Peletier, Willem van Zwet, Jaap Murre, Hendrik Lenstra, Bas Edixhoven, Jacqueline Meulman, Frank den Hollander, Aad van der Vaart en Richard Gill.
Cramer is engaged with cryptography, the mathematics of digital security which is for example important for internet transactions. The Cramer-Shoup cryptosystem, which he and his American colleague Victor Shoup published, was the first practical system resistant to active attacks. The system became an international standard. Cramer also designed a system for secure collaboration between parties that do not trust each other. The new applications of classical mathematics in cryptography found by Cramer are groundbreaking. Cramer was among the first group of The Young Academy (De Jonge Akademie). Ronald Cramer: "I am pleased with this honorable membership. As an Academy member I hope to continue my work for the science.”