Marriage Algorithm Creator Dead at 86

From "David Gale, Who Created Marriage Algorithm, Is Dead at 86," NY Times, March 31, 2008:

...[Mathematician David Gale] was widely recognized for work on the so-called stable marriage algorithm, a concept he developed in the 1960s with the economist and mathematician Lloyd S. Shapley.

The problem begins with the assumption that equal numbers of men and women are in search of potential partners. Is it possible to pair the individuals in such a way that all achieve a satisfactory match? The solution developed by Dr. Shapley and Dr. Gale was to have each participant rank the members of the other sex in terms of desirability. The researchers then developed an algorithm that directed each participant to his or her next choice of partner, if rejected by the first or second choices.

The result was that everyone would be matched in a "stable" pairing, a term meant to suggest that no two members of the opposite sex would rather marry each other than the ultimate partner provided by the algorithm.

The findings were published in 1962 in The American Mathematical Monthly, and were soon recognized as having broad applications to other situations...