Mary Lou Soffa

Developer of software tools for debugging and testing programs to eliminate or reduce false alarms and improve operating efficiency, Soffa is an American computer scientist also noted for her research on compilers,...

Burton J. Smith

Primary architect of the Denelcor Heterogeneous Element Processor (HEP), Smith was a pioneering computer architect who served as a Technical Fellow at Microsoft. He earned a B.S.E.E. degree from the University of...

John Paul Rodker Morrison

Inventor of flow-based programming (FBP), Morrison is a British-born Canadian computer programmer. FBP defines applications using the metaphor of a "data factory." It views an application not as a single, sequential process,...

Jim Garrett

Pioneer of the Internet banking industry and online marketing financial services, Garrett founded Kudzu Interactive in 2004 and developed the web-based ordering platform that became the restaurant industry's standard for online, mobile,...

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...

Gregory John Chaitin

One of the founders of algorithmic information theory and a key figure in metamathematics, Chaitin is an Argentine-American mathematician and computer scientist born in Argentina. Beginning in the late 1960s, he made...

Rudolf Hell

Inventor of the Hellschreiber, an early forerunner to the fax machine, Hell was a German engineer born in Eggmühl, Germany, who studied electrical engineering in Munich from 1919 to 1923. While there...

William (Bill) Henry Gates

Founder of Microsoft, Gates is an American business magnate and philanthropist who co-founded the software company with Paul Allen. Gates has been consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people and was the...

Harry (Webb) McKinney

Co-leader of HP's post-merger integration team responsible for the planning and integration of HP and Compaq's systems, processes, and people, McKinney brings a wealth of experience in mergers, integrations, and executive leadership,...

Winifred (Tim) Alice Asprey

Early female computer pioneer who established the first computer science lab at Vassar College, Asprey was one of only around 200 women to earn PhDs in mathematics from American universities during the...

Thomas John Watson, Jr.

CEO of IBM during its growth years from 1952 to 1971, Watson was the eldest son of Thomas J. Watson, IBM's first president. He was listed as one of TIME Magazine's 100...

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...

Jeffrey (Jeff) Hawkins

Founder of Palm Computing and Handspring, Hawkins invented the Palm Pilot and the Treo. He subsequently turned to neuroscience full-time, founding the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience (formerly the Redwood Neuroscience Institute)...

Lubomyr T. Romankiw

Co-inventor of a technique that produced the first practical and manufacturable thin film magnetic head, Romankiw helped increase the density of data stored on magnetic disks and dramatically reduced the cost of...

Henryk Zygalski

Designer of the "perforated sheets," also known as "Zygalski sheets," a manual device for finding Enigma settings, Zygalski was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who worked at breaking German Enigma ciphers before...

Walter (Jerry) Jeremiah Sanders III

Co-founder and long-time CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Sanders helped establish one of America's most prominent semiconductor manufacturers.

Edwin Earl Catmull

A pioneer of computer graphics and former President of both Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios, Catmull has contributed to many important developments in computer graphics. He was born in...

James (Jim) Richard Goodman

Contributor to shared-memory multiprocessor system design, Goodman is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and has served as a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Auckland in Auckland,...

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...

Dharma P. Agrawal

Leader of the University of Cincinnati - BlueTooth (UCBT) Bluetooth package, Agrawal was a communications scientist who specialized in wireless sensor networks. He served as the Ohio Board of Regents Distinguished Professor...