George Bernard Dantzig (/ˈdæntsɪɡ/; November 8, 1914–May 13, 2005) was an American mathematical scientist who made contributions to industrial engineering, operations research, computer science, economics and statistics.

Dantzig is known for his development of the simplex algorithm, an algorithm for solving linear programming problems, and for his other work with linear programming. In statistics, Dantzig solved two open problems in statistical theory, which he had mistaken for homework after arriving late to a lecture by Jerzy Spława-Neyman.

At his death, Dantzig was professor emeritus of Transportation Sciences and Professor of Operations Research and of Computer Science at Stanford University.

Born to Jewish parents in Portland, Oregon, George Bernard Dantzig was named after George Bernard Shaw, the Irish writer. His father, Tobias Dantzig, was a mathematician and linguist, and his mother, Anja Dantzig (née Ourisson), was a Russian-born linguist of French-Lithuanian origin. Dantzig's parents met during their study at the University of Paris, where Tobias studied mathematics under Henri Poincaré, after whom Dantzig's brother was named. The Dantzigs emigrated to the United States, where they settled in Portland, Oregon.

Early in the 1920s the Dantzig family moved from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. His mother became a linguist at the Library of Congress, and his father became a math tutor at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Dantzig attended Powell Junior High School and Central High School. By the time he reached high school, he was already fascinated by geometry, and this interest was further nurtured by his father, challenging him with complicated problems, particularly in projective geometry.

George Dantzig received his B.S. from University of Maryland in 1936 in mathematics and physics. He earned his master's degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1937. After working as a junior statistician at the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1937 to 1939, he enrolled in the doctoral program in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied statistics under Jerzy Spława-Neyman.

During his study in 1939, Dantzig solved two unproven statistical theorems due to a misunderstanding. Near the beginning of a class, Professor Spława-Neyman wrote two problems on the blackboard. Dantzig arrived late and assumed that they were a homework assignment. According to Dantzig, they "seemed to be a little harder than usual", but a few days later he handed in completed solutions for both problems, still believing that they were an assignment that was overdue. Six weeks later, an excited Spława-Neyman eagerly told him that the "homework" problems he had solved were two of the most famous unsolved problems in statistics. He had prepared one of Dantzig's solutions for publication in a mathematical journal. This story began to spread and was used as a motivational lesson demonstrating the power of positive thinking. Over time, some facts were altered, but the basic story persisted in the form of an urban legend and as an introductory scene in the movie Good Will Hunting.