Clifford Edward Berry

Holder of 19 patents in mass spectrometry and 11 in vacuum and electronics, Berry was a pioneer in radio and electrical engineering. Clifford Berry received his M.S. in Physics in 1941. After their...

Cecil Wayne Ratliff

Creator of the Vulcan database program, Ratliff worked for the Martin Marietta Corporation from 1969 to 1982 in a progression of engineering and managerial positions. He was a member of the NASA...

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...

James L. Fergason

Inventor of an improved liquid crystal display, Fergason made his seminal discovery of the twisted nematic cell — a low-power, field-operated LC display — in 1969 while at the Liquid Crystal Institute...

Aaron Marcus

Pioneer in computer-based design, Marcus founded Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc. (AM+A) in 1982, one of the first independent, computer-based design firms in the world. An American user-interface and information-visualization designer, as well...

Stanisław Marcin Ulam

Originator of the concept of the technological singularity, Ulam was also a renowned mathematician of Polish-Jewish origin who participated in America's Manhattan Project, originated the Teller–Ulam design of thermonuclear weapons, suggested the...

Michael Sean Mahoney

Noted professor of IT history at Princeton University, Mahoney dedicated his 40-year academic career in the history of science to that institution. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University, Mahoney came to...

Robert A. Henle

Co-developer of the IBM 608 transistor calculator, the first solid-state computing system in production, Henle contributed significantly to semiconductor technology. He was born in Virginia, Minnesota, entered the Navy in 1944, qualified...

Albert S. Hoagland

Early designer of random access disk storage, Hoagland played a key role in magnetic head design and recording for the Random Access Method of Accounting and Control (RAMAC) disk drive, the first...

Robert W. Floyd

Having a clear influence on methodologies for the creation of efficient and reliable software, Floyd made lasting contributions to computer science across several areas. His contributions included the design of Floyd's algorithm,...

George Robert Stibitz

Recognized as one of the fathers of the modern digital computer for his work with Bell Labs in the 1930s and 1940s, Stibitz completed a relay-based calculator in November 1937 he dubbed...

Douglas Donald Troxel

Developer of COMPAREX, an industry-standard mainframe product, Troxel founded SERENA Consulting in 1980 and grew it into a publicly traded software company without venture capital. Raised on a farm near Lake City, Iowa,...

Larry R. Harris

Internationally recognized as an expert on database systems and computerized natural language, Harris founded EasyAsk as Linguistic Technology Corporation (LTC) in 1994 and authored its EasyAsk and English Wizard products. As Vice...

Léon Bollée

Inventor of the first calculating machine, Bollée began work in 1887 on three calculating machines: the Direct Multiplier, the Calculating Board, and the Arithmographe. Bollée's Multiplier was the second successful direct-multiplying calculator...

Jerome Svigals

One of the world's first digital programmers, Svigals worked on developing the first electronic computer as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1950. Born in 1926 in the Bronx, New York,...

Frederic (Ted) Withington

Founder board member of the IT History Society and Silicon Valley venture capitalist, Withington began his career as a programmer at NSA in 1953. Over the years he worked for computer makers...

Kesav Vithal Nori

One of the creators of the Pascal P4 compiler, Nori is well-known for this work done together with Nikolaus Wirth. He has served as Executive Director and Executive Vice President of Tata...

Herbert Bruderer

Historian of computing, technology, and science, Bruderer has served as a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich) and the University of Zurich. He...

Nestor Burtnyk

Father of the multimillion-dollar computer animation industry, Burtnyk pioneered animation technology that transformed the field. Born in Ethelbert, Manitoba to Ukrainian immigrants, he began Canada's first major computer graphics research project in...

Robert E. Cook

Founder of VM Software (later renamed Systems Center), a provider of software utilities for IBM's VM operating system, Cook built his first company into a firm listed on both the Nasdaq and...