Dr. John L. Gustafson

An American computer scientist and businessman, chiefly known for his work in High Performance Computing (HPC) such as the invention of Gustafson's Law, introducing the first commercial computer cluster, measuring with QUIPS, leading the reconstruction of the Atanasoff–Berry Computer, as well as several awards for computer speedup. Presently the Director of Intel Labs-SC, he previously held the position of CEO of Massively Parallel Technologies, Inc. and CTO at ClearSpeed Technology. After completing a degree in Applied Mathematics at California Institute of Technology in 1977 he moved to Ames, Iowa and completed his M.S. (1981) and Ph.D. (1982) at Iowa State University. His parents encouraged his scientific explorations at a young age. Assembling radio transmitters, designing and executing chemistry experiments, and making holograms are some of his favorite childhood explorations adding up to over 1000 lab hours before college. Among his awards are: the 2007 IEEE Computer Society Golden Core Award; the 2006 International Atanasoff Award (inaugural); the Iowa State University Inventor of the Year Award in 2000; the R&D 100 Award in 1989,1991, & 1995; and in 1988 Parallel computing breakthrough was read into U.S. Congressional Record; and the Gordon Bell Prize (inaugural) (Greatest annual contribution to the science of parallel processing); as well as the 1988 Karp Challenge (Unique award: First demonstration of parallel speedup of over 200 times)