Danny (Dan) Spracklen

Co-programmer of the Chafitz ARB Sargon 2.5, the first commercial dedicated chess computer with an Auto Response Board (ARB), Spracklen is an American computer scientist and microcomputer chess pioneer. Born in Decatur,...

Robert Stein

Producer of the first interactive computer discs for CD-ROM, Stein is considered a visionary and innovator in the world of communication and multimedia. Born and raised in New York City, Stein attended...

John Ponzo

A pioneer in technology that promotes end-user interaction through mobility, Web programming, Web application middleware, and software tools, Ponzo has served as IBM's CTO and technical leader of Mobile First, a new...

Muhammad ibn Musa al

Presenter of the first systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations in Arabic, al-Khwārizmī was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer—a scholar in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad whose life spanned...

Ronald Linn Rivest

One of the inventors of the RSA algorithm (along with Adi Shamir and Len Adleman), Rivest has made ingenious contributions to making public-key cryptography useful in practice. He also invented the symmetric...

Dennis M. Jennings

Responsible for three critical decisions that shaped the subsequent development of NSFNET, the network that became the Internet, Jennings is an Irish physicist, academic, Internet pioneer, and venture capitalist. In 1985, he...

Jack St. Clair Kilby

Nobel Prize laureate in physics in 2000 for his invention of the integrated circuit, Kilby was also the inventor of the handheld calculator and thermal printer.

Robert Mano Fano

Known principally for his work in information theory and the invention of Shannon-Fano coding, Fano was a computer scientist and professor emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of...

Charles Geschke

Co-founder of Adobe Systems, Geschke transformed document production and launched the desktop publishing industry. Prior to co-founding Adobe, Geschke and Warnock worked at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Geschke had started there...

Vincent (Yu-Cheng) Hsu

Lead developer of the DS8000, which launched in 2005 and remains a key part of IBM's storage portfolio, Hsu has served as an IBM Fellow and IBM's Chief Technology Officer for Disk...

Federico Luigi Conte Menabrea

Author of the landmark 1842 "Sketch of the Analytical Engine Invented by Charles Babbage, Esq." — translated and annotated by Ada Lovelace — which described many aspects of computer architecture and programming,...

Patrick Carl Fischer

His work on the mathematical foundations of database query languages became central to the databases now used by major web servers worldwide. Fischer was an American computer scientist and noted researcher in...

George Boole

Inventor of Boolean logic, Boole was one of the most influential mathematicians in history. His father, John Boole (1779–1848), was a tradesman of limited means, but of "studious character and active mind"....

Martin A. Goetz

Software pioneer and holder of the first software patent, Goetz played a foundational role in defining software as a standalone commercial product. In the early 1960s, the status of software as a standalone...

Charles Proteus Steinmetz

Fostering the development of alternating current that made possible the expansion of the electric power industry in the United States, Steinmetz was a mathematician and electrical engineer who formulated mathematical theories for...

Peter M. Schnell

Founder of Software AG, Schnell established the company in 1969. He developed the ADABAS Data Management System and the NATURAL Fourth Generation Language, which became foundational contributions to enterprise software. In 1992,...

William (Bill) Millard

Considered the "father" of modern computer retailing, Millard founded IMS Associates, makers of the IMSAI series of computers, and the electronics retailer ComputerLand. Millard worked for IBM and, later, as the head...

Josep Torrellas

Leader of the Illinois Aggressive COMA Intelligent Memory project — selected as one of the "Eight Point-Design Studies" that DARPA, NSF, NSA, and NASA supported in a nationwide effort to accelerate the...

Dana L. Ulery

The first woman engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ulery is an American computer scientist and pioneer in scientific computing applications. She began her career in 1961, designing and developing algorithms...

Thomas James Perkins

The first General Manager of HP's computer divisions who helped shepherd Hewlett-Packard's entry into the minicomputer business, Perkins was also one of the founders of the leading venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins...