Murad S. Taqqu
TAQQU, Murad S., age 84, of Newton, Massachusetts died on April 28, 2026. Murad’s work forever changed the design of network infrastructure for the internet as we know it today. His groundbreaking career included contributions to network communications, hydrology, and finance. In 2021, Murad retired after nearly 40 years as Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at Boston University.
Murad was a mentee of Benoit Mandelbrot, widely recognized as the father of fractals, who also served as Murad’s unofficial dissertation advisor. Murad’s work added mathematical rigor to Mandelbrot’s foundational theories on “self-similar processes” and “long range dependence.” In demonstrating that internet traffic is fractal, Murad influenced generations of researchers and engineers to design network protocols and applications based on the mathematical patterns he discovered.
Murad was born in Iraq in 1942. Shortly before he was born, Iraqi nationalists had fomented anti-Jewish riots during World War II, killing hundreds in 24 hours. His family awaited the first opportunity to leave, heading for Beirut in 1946. They then went to Italy, where Murad learned to speak Italian, and eventually they settled in Switzerland, where he learned German and English. Languages came easily to Murad, who also spoke French, Arabic, Hebrew, and some Russian.
Despite attending what he called “dubious primary schools” and growing up outside the formal education system, Murad ultimately went on to study physics and mathematics at Université de Lausanne-Ecole Polytechnique (now known as EPFL).
Murad first taught himself probability as a high school student, with the help of a book by the famous mathematician Emile Borel. His tenacity and love of learning were rewarded by a high school contest. Having won first place in a literature competition, he later noticed that mathematics (with a specific challenge related to probability) offered the greater monetary award. With the help of Borel’s book, Murad immersed himself deeper into the world of probability, won first prize for this award too, and purchased his first camera. This first encounter with probability launched what would become his lifelong passion and career, in addition to cementing his enduring love of photography.
Murad arrived in the US as a stateless person, but soon made himself a home, forging relationships that lasted a lifetime. He earned his PhD at Columbia University, where he met his wife and soulmate Rachelle. They shared a spirit of curiosity and adventure and traveled widely. After beginning their life together in New York, they moved to Israel, where Murad first lectured at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and then served as a post-doctoral fellow at the Weizmann Institute under renowned mathematician Samuel Karlin. They later relocated to Ithaca, where Murad was a professor at the Cornell College of Engineering, and eventually settled in Massachusetts, where he continued his research and teaching at Boston University.
Murad’s charisma, enthusiasm for his subject, and genuine interest in connecting with students made him a revered professor. Students sought out his classes, more performances than lectures, where he presented research as mysteries to be solved. He was notorious for spending hourlong stretches with his students to work through technical arguments. Murad edited or authored 11 books and published more than 260 papers, which have spawned and shaped important research directions in probability and statistics. He actively collaborated with prominent senior researchers and advised many PhD students who have gone on to distinguished careers of their own.
Murad earned accolades and awards throughout his career: he was a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, and a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. Many of his papers earned other prizes, including the 1995 William J. Bennett Award, the 1996 IEEE W.R.G. Baker Prize, the 2002 EURASIO Best Paper Award and the 2006 ACM/SIGCOMM Test of Time Award.
Ever since Murad bought that first camera in high school, photography remained a cornerstone of his life. He was rarely without his camera, using it to memorialize gatherings with his family and friends and to document his worldwide travels. Murad was cherished for his ability to capture fleeting, meaningful moments, many of which became even more treasured than those taken by official photographers. His photographs offer a window into how he saw the world: with joy, attentiveness, and curiosity. He was also a devoted reader as well as an observer, moving easily between books and the world around him, attentive to both. He found equal pleasure in the adventure of new places and in returning to familiar pages – whether on mathematics, literature or the poets he loved, including Kenneth Koch and Charles Baudelaire. He met life with an inquisitive spirit, always noticing, always engaged.
Above all, Murad’s greatest joy was his family. His children and grandchildren knew him as a magical, captivating storyteller. With a mischievous glimmer in his eyes, he mesmerized them with stories from his childhood—most of which were true—and delighted in their wonder. He challenged them with math problems, encouraged their curiosity, and inspired them to learn languages and engage fully with the world.
Murad is survived by his wife of nearly 55 years, Rachelle Taqqu, his daughter Yael Taqqu and husband Jeremy Levine, his son Jonathan Taqqu and wife Keren Blankfeld, grandchildren Noah, Kai and Olivia Levine and Rafael and Samuel Taqqu, and brother David.
Donations in Murad’s honor can be made to the JBI Library or the Davis Phinney Foundation.