John Russell Patrick

An influential force behind IBM's early adoption of the Internet and World Wide Web, Patrick led the team that created IBM's intranet and the IBM.com website. He was born in Salem, New...

Tim O'Reilly

Founder of O'Reilly Media, publisher of some of the most industry-standard books on information technology, O'Reilly launched the company in 1978, starting with the "Nutshell Handbooks" series on Linux, and later expanding...

Jon (Mad Dog) Hall

During his time with Digital Equipment Corporation that he initially became interested in Linux, and was instrumental in obtaining equipment and resources for Linus Torvalds to accomplish his first port, to Digital's...

Richard (Rick) Thomas Watson

Co-leader of the Global Text Project, which provides free electronic textbooks for students in the developing world, Watson has held the J. Rex Fuqua Distinguished Chair for Internet Strategy in the Department...

Annie Easley

A significant contributor to the early development of NASA's rocket technologies, Easley spent decades as a NASA engineer whose work in programming, energy-conversion, and shuttle launches helped address the agency's need for...

Maria Klawe

Known for her advocacy for women in STEM fields, Klawe served as the fifth president of Harvey Mudd College from 2006 to 2023. Prior to that role, she served as Dean of...

Joseph Weizenbaum

Creator of ELIZA, the pioneering natural language processing program that prompted his growing skepticism about artificial intelligence, Weizenbaum died March 5, 2008 in Berlin. He was 85. Joseph Weizenbaum was born on January...

Carl Machover

Inducted into the FAMLI Computer Graphics Hall of Fame, Machover is recognized as a computer graphics pioneer and graphics "evangelist." He has served as president of Machover Associates Corp (MAC), a computer graphics...

Susan Estrada

Founder of CERFnet, one of the original regional IP networks, Estrada is recognized as an Internet pioneer and named a "thinking nerd" by colleagues, with a deep interest in emerging broadband technologies...

Simon Phipps

Instrumental in IBM's involvement in the Java programming language, Phipps founded IBM's Java Technology Center. A computer scientist and web and open source advocate, he left IBM for Sun Microsystems in 2000,...

Danese Cooper

Known as the "Open Source Diva" for her work in the Open Source movement, Cooper has held many prominent leadership roles within the computer science sector. Cooper managed teams at Symantec and...

Reshma Saujani

Founder of Girls Who Code, a nonprofit working to increase the number of women in computer science and close the gender employment gap in that field, Saujani built a career spanning law,...

Kevin Mitnick

One of the most controversial and most-wanted computer hackers in United States history, Mitnick was convicted of various computer- and communications-related crimes in the late 20th century. Following his release, Mitnick went on...

Valerie Barr

Researcher in software testing, gender and science issues, and computer science curriculum development, Barr has served as Professor and Chair of Computer Science at Union College, Schenectady, New York, since September 2004....

Liane Tarouco

A pioneer in the development of the Internet in Brazil, Tarouco educated a generation of engineers and network specialists across that country, South America, Europe, and Africa. She authored the first book...

Joy Buolamwini

Founder of the Algorithmic Justice League (AJL), Buolamwini founded an organization dedicated to challenging bias in decision-making software through art, advocacy, and research. Her work highlighted the social implications and harms of...

Dewang Mehta

Credited with a large portion of India's momentous rise as a "software giant," Mehta transformed the country's fledgling software industry into a global force. Born in Umreth, Gujarat, India, he was an...

Jakob Nielsen

Founder of the "discount usability engineering" movement for fast and cheap improvements of user interfaces, Nielsen invented several usability methods, including heuristic evaluation — a usability inspection method for computer software that...

Mitchell David Kapor

Founder of Lotus Development Corporation and designer of Lotus 1-2-3, Kapor co-founded the company in 1982 with Jonathan Sachs, who was responsible for technical architecture and implementation. He served as the President...

John Theurer Diebold

An early champion of widespread use of computing and automated technology, Diebold helped shape how businesses understood and adopted automation. Diebold was born in Weehawken, New Jersey. He graduated from Swarthmore College in...