Michael James David Powell FRS FAA[2] (29 July 1936 – 19 April 2015) was a British mathematician, who worked in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at the University of Cambridge.

[3][1][4][5][6] Born in London, Powell was educated at Frensham Heights School and Eastbourne College.

[7] Powell was known for his extensive work in numerical analysis, especially nonlinear optimisation and approximation.

[citation needed] He had been working on derivative-free optimization algorithms in recent years, the resultant algorithms including COBYLA, UOBYQA, NEWUOA, BOBYQA, and LINCOA.

[8] He was the author of numerous scientific papers[1] and of several books, most notably Approximation Theory and Methods.