Influential People in the History of Computing

	Charles Babbage b. December 26, 1792, London, England d. October 18, 1871, London, England Inducted August, 1998 Designed the Difference and Analytical Engines, the earliest direct progenitors of modern computers The Analytical Engine was the earliest expression of an all-purpose, programmable computer The University of Minnesota named in his honor The Charles Babbage Institute Center for the History of Computing More about Charles Babbage
Top of page	Seymour Cray b. 1925, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin d. 1996, Colorado Springs, Colorado Inducted August, 1998 Widely acknowledged as the "Father of the Supercomputer" Credited with developing the first fully transistorized supercomputer in 1958 A founding employee of Control Data Corporation in 1957; directed its engineering department 1957 to 1965 Invented CRAY-1 vector register technology, and innovative cooling designs for the CDC 6600 and CRAY-1 Founded ground-breaking Cray Research in 1972 More about Seymour Cray More about Cray Supercomputers
Top of page	Lee Felsenstein b. 1945 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Inducted August, 1998 Moderator of the now-legendary Homebrew Computer Club from 1975 through 1986 Designed the Processor Technology Sol, one of the first competitors to the Apple II Designed the Osborne-I portable computer in 1981, the first mass-produced portable computer Designer of the Pennywhistle modem, one of the first inexpensive modems for personal computers An organizer of the Hacker's Conference in 1984 Currently a senior researcher and leader of rapid-prototyping engineering at Interval Research Corporation More about Lee Felsenstein
Top of page	Andrew Kay Inducted August 1998 Best known as the father of the KAYPRO personal computer, the only major computer platform designed and manufactured in San Diego County Inventor of the digital voltmeter for his own Non-Linear Systems in 1953 Inspiration for psychologist Abraham Maslow's theory of "enlightened management" More about Andrew Kay
Top of page	William H. Gates III b. October 28, 1955 Seattle, Washington Inducted August, 1998 Co-founded Microsoft in 1975 with boyhood friend Paul Allen Wrote Microsoft's first program, BASIC for the MITS Altair, in 1975 Led Microsoft to become one of the world's largest corporations, helping the software industry rival established industries in economic influence and power Donated nearly $1 billion to charities, including $200 million to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. More about Bill Gates More about Microsoft Corporation

	Nolan Bushnell b. February 5, 1943, Clearfield, Utah Elected, September, 2000 Designed and built Computer Space in 1970, the first video arcade game (released in 1971 by Nutting) Founded ATARI in 1972 Released PONG in 1972, the first commercially successful video arcade game Designed a released versions of PONG for the home, thus creating the multi-billion-dollar home videogame market Hired Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to assemble arcade games at Atari Founded the Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theater, a chain of restaurants with video arcades Founded uWink, a global network entertainment system with publicly placed terminals worldwide More about Nolan Bushnell More about uWink
Top of page	Michael Dell b. February 23, 1965, Houston, Texas Elected, September, 2000 Developed concept of selling personal computers via mail-order, to customer specifications Founder of Dell Computers (1984), one of world's largest manufacturers of personal computers More about Michael Dell More about Dell Computers
Top of page	Doug Engelbart b. January 25,1925, Portland, Ore. Elected, September, 2000 Invented and built the first computer mouse in 1963 Developed one of the earliest working models of hyperlinking (debuted 1968) Developed the first multiple-window Graphical User Interface (GUI), precursor to both Windows and the MacOS (debuted 1968) Developed the first word processor (debuted 1968) Hosted first-ever video teleconference in 1968 Ran the second host on the ARPANET (now Internet) at Stanford Currently a senior researcher and leader of rapid-prototyping engineering at Interval Research Corporation Founder of the Bootstrap Institute More about Douglas Engelbart More about the Bootstrap Institute
Top of page	Marcian Edward Hoff b. 1937, Rochester, New York Elected, September, 2000 Inventor of the computer-on-a-chip in 1968, which became the Intel 4004 microprocessor and sold to the public in 1971 More about Marcian Edward Hoff
Top of page	Steve Jobs b. February 24, 1955, Los Altos, Calif. Elected, September, 2000 Designed the popular arcade game "Breakout" for Atari With boyhood friend Steve Wozniak, founded Apple Computing Inc. in 1976 Authorized development of the Apple Lisa, the first commercially available computer with a modern "desktop" look and mouse Founded NeXT Computing Inc. in 1986 Purchased computer animation studio Pixar from George Lucas; later authorized development of "Toy Story" Returned to struggling Apple in 1996 as CEO; authorized development of popular iMac line More about Steve Jobs More about Apple Computers

	Jack St. Clair Kilby b. November 8, 1923, Jefferson City, Missouri Elected, September, 2000 Inventor of the monolithic integrated circuit in 1958 and holder of more than 60 other patents Co-invented both the hand-held calculator and the thermal printer that was used in portable data terminals Recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics More about Jack St. Clair Kilby
Top of page	Lady Ada Augusta Lovelace b. December 10, 1815, Middlesex, England d. November 27, 1852, London, England Elected September, 2000 Daughter of famed poet, Lord Byron Translated Italian commentary on the Analytical Engine into English, bringing attention to Sir Charles Babbage, designer of the Analytical Engine Backer of Babbage, designer of the Difference and Analytical Engines Suggested Babbage develop instructions for directing his machines, and provided example- first appearance of "software" (1843)
Top of page	Henry (Ed) Roberts b. 1942 Elected, September, 2000 Creator of the Altair 8800, the machine that started the personal computer revolution in 1974 In 1975, while head of Micro-Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, he hired Bill Gates to write software for the Altair Left the electronics business to become a doctor in rural Georgia More about Henry (Ed) Roberts
Top of page	Alan Mathison Turing b. June 23, 1912, London, England d. June 7, 1954, Cheshire, England Elected September, 2000 Designed the Turing Machine (1937), the basis for modern binary computers Led team that cracked the Nazis' Enigma Code, giving Allies huge advantage in World War II Developed the Turing Test (1950), standard for testing intelligence in a machine More about Alan Mathison Turing
Top of page	Stephen Wozniak b. August 11, 1950, San Jose, Calif. Elected September, 2000 As a teen-ager, built a pre-CPU computer he dubbed the "Cream Soda Computer" Designed the Apple I kit computer Designed the Apple II, which became known as the "Volkswagen of Computers" With boyhood friend Steve Jobs, founded Apple Computing Inc. in 1976 More about Stephen Wozniak

	Dr. Coleman Furr Inducted August, 1998 Founder of Coleman College, a leader in technology education since 1963 Founding member of the Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals Creator of the inverted curriculum, a process to allow students to find employment quickly while continuing their education More about Dr. Coleman Furr More about Coleman College
Top of page	Admiral Grace Hopper b. December 9, 1906 New York City d. January 1, 1992 Inducted June 1997 Known as the "Mother of COBOL" for developing the COmmon Business Oriented Language Developed the first compiler program Responsible for finding the first computer "bug" -- a moth stuck in the contactors (solenoids) of the giant Mark II calculator More about Admiral Grace Hopper
Top of page	Dr. James Martin Inducted June 1997 Father of Computer Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) Member of the Software Scientific Advisory Board to the U.S. Department of Defense Prolific author of books on technology, management and society More about James Martin
Top of page	Gerald M. Weinberg Inducted June 1997 Credited with beginning the study of software engineering as human behavior Author of "The Psychology of Computer Programming," first published in 1971 and considered one of the most influential books about the culture of computer programmers Authored several hundred articles and more than 30 books More about Gerald M. Weinberg
Top of page	Ed Yourdon Inducted June 1997 Lead developer of structured analysis/design methods Co-developer of object-oriented analysis/design Author of more than 200 technical articles and two dozen books More about Ed Yourdon