Norman Abramson

Developer of the ALOHAnet system for wireless computer communication and inventor of the first random access protocol, Abramson was an American engineer and computer scientist. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and...

Tom Kilburn

Co-inventor of the first stored-program computer, Kilburn was a major player in the team which built the Manchester University "Baby" in 1948. He also co-invented with Freddie Williams the cathode ray storage...

Georg (Per) Pehr Scheutz

Co-developer of the Scheutzian calculation engine, which produced the first tables calculated and printed by machinery, Scheutz was a 19th-century Swedish lawyer, translator, and inventor. He studied law at Lund University, graduating...

Gordon Kidd Teal

Developer of the first silicon transistor, Teal transformed the semiconductor industry. Born in South Dallas, Texas, he was Valedictorian at the Bryan Street High School in Dallas, Texas. He earned his undergraduate...

Sumit Ghosh

Researcher in computer architectures for next generation secure ATM network design and next generation IP router architecture to defeat next generation viruses, Ghosh has served as the Chair of the Computer Science...

Thomas (Tom) M. Bradicich

Leader and prime mover behind IBM's xSeries architectures, Bradicich is a 2006 IBM Fellow—the highest honor a scientist, engineer, or programmer at IBM can achieve. He has served as Vice President of...

Philipp Matthäus Hahn

Designer of the first functional mechanical calculator, Hahn was born on 25th of November, 1739 in Scharnhausen, Esslingen, as the second of ten children in a family of a pastor. From 1749...

Joseph Marie Jacquard

Inventor of the earliest programmable loom, Jacquard transformed weaving with his automatic patterned-silk loom, though his early inventions operated poorly and were largely unsuccessful. In 1801, Jacquard exhibited his invention at the industrial...

Audrey A. Helffrich

Leader of the hardware strategy for IBM's early 1990s transition from bipolar to CMOS microprocessors on its largest mainframes, Helffrich is credited with helping to save the mainframe and keeping the Poughkeepsie...

Terry G. Johnson

Founder of Miniscribe in 1980, an early manufacturer of 5.25-inch and later 3.5-inch drives, Johnson was a pioneer in disk storage products. Born in Ogden, Utah, Johnson graduated from high school in 1953....

Charles Xavier Thomas

Known for designing and patenting the first mechanical calculator, Thomas introduced the Arithmometer in 1820, though more than thirty years passed before its true commercialization in 1852, as he spent that intervening...

James Wares Bryce

Inventor and pioneer in magnetic data storage, Bryce was one of America's most prolific inventors, credited with more than 500 U. S. and foreign patents. His death in 1949 took from the...

Richard D. Greenblatt

Co-founder of the hacker community and the main implementer of Maclisp on the PDP-6, Greenblatt is also known for writing Mac Hack, the first computer program to play tournament-level chess and the...

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Discoverer of the binary number system and independent co-inventor of infinitesimal calculus, Leibniz occupied a prominent place in the history of mathematics and the history of philosophy. He developed the infinitesimal calculus...

Richard Lawrence Grimsdale

Designer and developer of the world's first transistorized computer, the Metrovick 950, Grimsdale was born in Australia, returned to England with his parents, and later studied electrical engineering at Manchester University, graduating...

Christopher Latham Sholes

Inventor of the QWERTY keyboard and one of the first practical typewriters, Sholes transformed written communication. Born in Mooresburg, Pennsylvania, he moved to nearby Danville as a teenager, where he worked as...

Ralph Ungermann

Co-founder of Ungermann-Bass (UB), the first large networking company independent of any computer manufacturer, Ungermann was considered to be a founding father of the data communications industry. He was often described as...

Jay Wright Forrester

Founder of System Dynamics, Forrester was also a pioneer computer engineer and systems scientist whose invention of magnetic core memory transformed computing. Forrester was born on July 14, 1918, on a cattle ranch...

James T. Pendergrass

Instrumental in establishing the naval cryptologic service's pioneering program to develop electronic digital computers, Pendergrass shaped the early development of computing in the U.S. Navy. Born in Bala Cynwyd, PA, he earned...

Jonathan (Jony) Paul Ive

Lead designer and conceptual mind behind many of Apple's most iconic products, including the iMac, MacBook Air, iPod, iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad, Ive is widely recognized as one of the most...