What Beamer theme is used in Boyd's Convex Optimization slides?

I do not know how Boyd produced his slides (he might have used powerdot, according to percusse's comment above), but I largely based my lecture template on his, because I like its sober style and printer-friendliness.

The following code might require some additional tweaks to exactly replicate Boyd's template. Note, in particular, that

1. the original template has a different paper size, which I didn't bother matching (even though the ratio in my template is the same);
2. The title page is slightly different from Boyd's.
3. I changed the item symbol to shaded grey balls, which I find easier on the eye than plain black ones.

However, I think my template should get you halfway there.

---

---

---

documentclass[
    smaller,
    %handout,
]{beamer}

% -------- Packages ---------
usepackage{amsmath}
usepackage{amssymb}
usepackage{lmodern}
usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
usepackage{pgfpages}
usepackage{fancyhdr}


% ----- Beamer tweaks -----
letTiny=tiny % to prevent warnings from LaTeX (due to Beamer)
useoutertheme{infolines} 
mode<beamer>{usetheme{default}}
usecolortheme{dove}
setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}
setbeamercovered{transparent}
usefonttheme[onlymath]{serif}

linespread{1.5}
setbeamersize{text margin left=30pt}
setbeamersize{text margin right=30pt}

setbeamertemplate{itemize items}[ball]
setlength{leftmargini}{1.2em}
setlength{leftmarginii}{1em}

setcounter{tocdepth}{1}
setbeamertemplate{section in toc}[ball unnumbered]
AtBeginSection[]{ 
  begin{frame}[handout:0]
    frametitle{Contents} 
    tableofcontents[currentsection] 
  end{frame} 
  addtocounter{framenumber}{-1} 
} 
setbeamerfont{itemize/enumerate body}{size=normalsize}

setbeamertemplate{frametitle}
{
    begin{centering}
        large      
        textbf{insertframetitle}
        par
    end{centering}
}

% ----- Redefinition of frame (to reset footnote numbering at each frame) -----
letoldframeframe                         % backup old frame
letendoldframeendframe                   % backup old endframe
renewenvironment{frame}{%
    setcounter{footnote}{0}oldframe%
}{endoldframe}                             % Reset the footnote counter at each frame


% ----- Footnote symbols -----
renewcommand*{thefootnote}{fnsymbol{footnote}}   


% ----- Handout settings -----
mode<handout>{usetheme{default}}
mode<handout>{pgfpagesuselayout{4 on 1}[a4paper,border shrink=5mm, landscape]}
mode<handout>{pgfpageslogicalpageoptions{1}{border code=pgfusepath{stroke}}}
mode<handout>{pgfpageslogicalpageoptions{2}{border code=pgfusepath{stroke}}}
mode<handout>{pgfpageslogicalpageoptions{3}{border code=pgfusepath{stroke}}}
mode<handout>{pgfpageslogicalpageoptions{4}{border code=pgfusepath{stroke}}}


% ----- fancyhdr -----
setbeamertemplate{headline}{} % No header
setbeamertemplate{footline}{ % Footer
    leavevmode
    vskip0pt
    hbox{ 
        % left
    begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=.5paperwidth,ht=2.25ex,dp=1ex,left]{title in head/foot}
        hspace*{25pt}
        usebeamerfont{title in head/foot}textcolor{gray}{inserttitle}
    end{beamercolorbox}

    % right
    begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=.5paperwidth,ht=2.25ex,dp=1ex,right]{page number in head/foot}
            usebeamerfont{page number in head/foot}arabic{lectnum}-insertpagenumber{}
        hspace*{30pt}
    end{beamercolorbox}
    }
    vskip17pt 
}


newcounter{lectnum}        % Lecture counter
setcounter{lectnum}{99}    % lecture counter
title{my title}            % topic from syllabus
subtitle[EE2376234]{Convex Optimization}
author{Jubobs}
institute[JA]{Jubobs academy}
date{}



begin{document}
% ----- Title Page -----
{% these braces define the local group associated to the titlepage

setbeamertemplate{headline}{ % header
    leavevmode
    vskip20pt
    hbox{
    % left
    begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=.33paperwidth,ht=2.25ex,dp=1ex,left]{subtitle in head/foot}
            hspace*{25pt}
            usebeamerfont{subtitle in head/foot}insertshortsubtitle
    end{beamercolorbox}

    % center
    begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=.33paperwidth,ht=2.25ex,dp=1ex,center]{author in head/foot}
        % nothing
    end{beamercolorbox}

    % right
    begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=.32paperwidth,ht=2.25ex,dp=1ex,right]{institute in head/foot}
            hfill
            usebeamerfont{institute in head/foot}insertinstitute
            hspace*{30pt}
    end{beamercolorbox}
    }
}

setbeamertemplate{footline}{ % footer
    leavevmode
    vskip0pt%
    hbox{
    % left
    begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=.333paperwidth,ht=2.25ex,dp=1ex,left]{author in head/foot}
        hspace*{25pt}
        usebeamerfont{author in head/foot}insertauthor
    end{beamercolorbox}

    % center
    begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=.333paperwidth,ht=2.25ex,dp=1ex,center]{author in head/foot}
        usebeamerfont{author in head/foot}texttt{[email protected]}
    end{beamercolorbox}

    % right
    begin{beamercolorbox}[wd=.333paperwidth,ht=2.25ex,dp=1ex,right]{page number in head/foot}
        usebeamerfont{page number in head/foot}textcolor{black}{arabic{lectnum}-insertpagenumber{}}
        hspace*{30pt}
    end{beamercolorbox}
    }
    vskip17pt
}

begin{frame}
frametitle{}
    begin{center}
    %vspace{-3mm}
    {large textbf{Lecture~arabic{lectnum}}}
    {Large textbf{inserttitle}}
    end{center}
    tableofcontents
end{frame}  

} 

%
section{Introduction}  

    %
    begin{frame}
    frametitle{Objectives}
        By the end of this lecture, you should
        begin{itemize}
            item be able to solve a big nonconvex QCQP without a computer
            item be a Matlab and Python guru
            item know CVX like the back of your hand   
        end{itemize}
    end{frame}  

section{Linear systems}

section{Convex optimization}

end{document}