Cuthbert Hurd
Cuthbert Corwin Hurd (born April 5, 1911 in Estherville , Iowa , † May 22, 1996 in San Mateo , California ) was an American computer entrepreneur, manager and applied mathematician.
Life
Hurd studied mathematics at Drake University (whose honorary doctorate he received in 1967) with a bachelor's degree in 1932, at Iowa State College with a master's degree in 1934 and received his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Illinois in 1936 with Waldemar Trjitzinsky ( "Asymptotic theory of linear differential equations singular in the variable of differentiation and in a parameter ). He was a post-doctoral student at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . From 1936 to 1942 he was an assistant professor at Michigan State University . During World War II, he taught mathematics on the Coast Guard Academy, Dean of Allegheny College, then a mathematician for Union Carbide at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 1945 to 1947. He was assistant to Alston Scott Householder and oversaw the use of early computers such as the IBM 602 and later the IBM 604 in the Nuclear engineering numerical calculations.
Dissatisfied with the performance of these computers, when he switched to IBM in 1949, where he set up the Applied Science department (which IBM was looking for customers in the technical and scientific field and exploring their needs), he put pressure on the reluctant management to advance the development of their electronic computers . He got support from John von Neumann himself, with whom he became friends. The first result was the Card Program Calculator (CPC) in 1949 , which made it possible, for example, to program a 604 with punched cards instead of plug-in boxes. He also pushed Thomas J. Watson to develop IBM's first general-purpose electronic computer, the IBM 701 . He also initiated the development of the IBM 650 series of mainframes , which were delivered from 1953. In 1955 he became the head of the electronic calculating machine department at IBM. In this capacity he also initiated the Stretch project after he became aware of the need for a supercomputer in a conversation with Edward Teller at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory .
In 1962 he left IBM and became director of the first independent software company Computer Usage Company and was its president from 1970 to 1974. He advised various Silicon Valley companies. From 1978 to 1986 he was a director of the Picodyne Corporation, which he co-founded, and in 1983 he was a co-founder of Quintus Computer Systems, which marketed a Prolog compiler (sold to Intergraph Corporation in 1989).
In retirement he dealt with horticulture and botany.
In 1986 he received the Computer Pioneer Award .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Published in Tohoku Mathematical Journal 1938
- ↑ He published with Chester Dimick Mathematics for Mariners , Van Nostrand 1943
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hurd, Cuthbert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hurd, Cuthbert Corwin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American computer scientist and mathematician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 5, 1911 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Estherville |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 22, 1996 |
| Place of death | San Mateo (California) |