William Gilbert Strang (born November 27, 1934[1]) is an American mathematician known for his contributions to finite element theory, the calculus of variations, wavelet analysis and linear algebra.

[2] He taught Linear Algebra, Computational Science, and Engineering, Learning from Data, and his lectures are freely available through MIT OpenCourseWare.

Strang earned his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1959 as a National Science Foundation Fellow, under the supervision of Peter K. Henrici.

[7] Strang's teaching has focused on linear algebra which has helped the subject become essential for students of many majors.

Strang founded Wellesley-Cambridge Press to publish Introduction to Linear Algebra (now in 6th edition) and ten other books.