Computer scientist Michael O. Rabin dies at 94
Original: Michael Rabin has died
Why This Matters
Loss of a foundational figure in computer science whose work shaped modern cryptography and algorithms
Israeli computer scientist Michael O. Rabin, co-recipient of the 1976 Turing Award with Dana Scott for work on computational complexity, died April 14, 2026 at age 94 in Ra'anana, Israel. Born in Germany in 1931, he emigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1935.
Michael Oser Rabin was a pioneering computer scientist known for fundamental contributions to cryptography, algorithms, and computational theory. He co-developed the Rabin cryptosystem, Rabin fingerprint, Miller-Rabin primality test, and Rabin-Karp string search algorithm. Born in Breslau, Germany to a rabbi, his family fled to Palestine in 1935. He studied under mathematician Elisha Netanyahu in high school and later earned degrees from Hebrew University and Princeton. His doctoral advisor was Alonzo Church. Rabin received numerous awards including the Turing Award (1976), Israel Prize (1995), and Dan David Prize (2010). He made groundbreaking contributions to nondeterministic finite automata, randomized algorithms, and cryptographic protocols throughout his career at institutions including Harvard University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.