Gertrude Blanch

Pioneering figure in numerical analysis and computation and one of the founders of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Blanch was born Gittel Kaimowitz in Kolno, Russia (now Kolno, Poland), arrived in...

Jimmy Donal Wales

Co-founder of Wikipedia, Wales is an American Internet entrepreneur who has helped transform how the world accesses information. Wales was born on August 7, 1966, in Huntsville, Alabama. He grew up in a...

Gene Frantz

Known as the "father of DSP," Frantz is a recognized leader in Digital Signal Processing technology both within Texas Instruments and throughout the industry. His experience started most notably with the launch of...

Matti Makkonen

Known as the father of SMS (Short Message Service) — i.e., text messaging — Makkonen was an engineer in the field of Mobile Communications. Born in Suomussalmi, Finland, he was employed (among...

James Henry Wakelin, Jr.

Involved with B.F. Goodrich's first use of modern computers, Wakelin was a United States physicist, oceanographer, and businessman who served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research and Development) from 1959 to...

John Edward Warnock

Co-founder of Adobe Systems Inc., Warnock pioneered the development of graphics, publishing, Web, and electronic document technologies that revolutionized the field of publishing and visual communications. He served as President of Adobe...

John Buxton

Pioneer of computer simulation, Buxton gained world renown for his fundamental scientific contributions to computer simulation, programming language design, and software implementation technology. He was founding professor of computer science at both...

Martin David Davis

Known for his work on Hilbert's tenth problem and as co-inventor of the Davis-Putnam and DPLL algorithms, Davis is an American mathematician. Born in New York City, he grew up in the...

Alexey Andreevich Lyapunov

One of the founders of cybernetics and a computer pioneer in Russia, Lyapunov made foundational contributions to the development of computing and cybernetics in the Soviet Union. In 1928, Lyapunov enrolled in Moscow...

Eugene Wong

Instrumental in building an Internet backbone for Asia and a pioneering contributor to relational database management, Wong has also inaugurated major initiatives in microsystems, information technology, nanotechnology, service-sector engineering, and biotechnology. Wong received...

Norman H. Nie

Co-inventor of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Nie transformed how researchers analyze data. An American social scientist, university professor, inventor, and pioneering technology entrepreneur, he was born in St....

John Blankenbaker

Designer and inventor of the Kenbak-1, considered by the Computer History Museum and the American Computer Museum to be the world's first "personal computer," Blankenbaker founded Kenbak Corporation in 1970, and the...

Robert Norton Noyce

Founder of Intel and co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor, Noyce is also credited (along with Jack Kilby) with the invention of the integrated circuit or microchip. Nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley," he...

Jeffrey (Jeff) Scott Raikes

Senior executive at Microsoft and CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Raikes is credited with driving much of Microsoft's early work in business applications. He joined Microsoft in 1981 as...

John Bardeen

Co-inventor of the transistor and the only person to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice, Bardeen was an American physicist and electrical engineer. He received the prize first in 1956...

Leonard Kleinrock

Known as a "Father of the Internet," Kleinrock is an American engineer and computer scientist who made several important contributions to the field of computer networking, in particular to the theoretical side...

George Edward Pake

Founding director of Xerox PARC, Pake led the research center during which time it invented the laser printer and pioneered the use of a computer "desktop" which functioned by clicking on "icons,"...

Isaac L Auerbach

Founder of Auerbach Associates and publisher of the influential Auerbach Reports on computer issues, Auerbach was a leading figure in the information processing industry. Isaac Auerbach earned a BS at Drexel University in...

Jaan Tallinn

Co-developer of Skype and FastTrack/Kazaa, Tallinn holds the world's record for the largest number of software downloads at almost 500 million. An Estonian programmer, he is widely celebrated for writing the peer-to-peer...

Gerald D. Cohen

CEO and founder of Information Builders, Cohen started an early enterprise database software company.