Charles Brenner (mathematician)

Charles Hallam Brenner
Born	1945 United States
Alma mater	Stanford University (B.S., 1967), University of California, Los Angeles (Ph.D., 1984)
Occupation	Mathematician
Known for	Pioneer in forensic mathematics, development of APL\360 and APL\1130, Symbolic Kinship Program

Charles Hallam Brenner is a mathematician from the United States recognized as a pioneer in the field of forensic mathematics. His father, Joel Lee Brenner, held a professorship in mathematics, while his mother, Frances Hallam Brenner, was involved in local government as a city council member and briefly served as mayor of Palo Alto, California. Additionally, his uncle Charles Brenner, MD, practiced psychiatry.

Brenner obtained his Bachelor of Science degree at Stanford University in 1967 and later completed his doctoral studies at UCLA in 1984. He played a significant role in the development of the APL\360 and APL\1130 programming languages, notably contributing to the implementation of fundamental functions such as transpose and rotate.

In recent years, Brenner has focused on applying mathematical principles to DNA analysis. His areas of specialization encompass kinship assessment, identification of rare haplotypes, and interpretation of DNA mixtures. Through influential research on Y chromosome haplotype analysis, he clarified why these haplotypes occur much less frequently than their expected population frequencies indicate.

He is the creator of the Symbolic Kinship Program, a widely utilized tool in mass casualty victim identification projects. This program was instrumental in identifying nearly one-third of the victims from the World Trade Center disaster.

Brenner also played a crucial role in settling the Larry Hillblom estate case, facilitating $50 million in settlements for four Amerasian heirs.

Anecdotes

• From 1968 to 1973, Brenner resided in London, England, making a living as a professional contract bridge player.
• When Brenner once asked his mentor Gordon how far one could progress in mathematics without exceptional intelligence, Gordon responded that it was possible to advance quite far.