UCI gets gift to lure math experts

By Marla Jo Fisher

December 5, 2003

A founding faculty member of University of California, Irvine, who wrote books on how to beat the gambling odds in Las Vegas has donated $1 million to the campus, officials announced Thursday. Edward O. Thorp and his wife Vivian donated the money to help attract top mathematicians to UCI. Thorp taught mathematics at UCI from 1965 to 1977 and added finance to his teaching load from 1977 to 1982. He was the first to prove a math-based system for winning at blackjack, UCI officials said. He has written books on how to win at casinos and how to beat the odds in the stock market.