Franz Alt (mathematician)

Franz Leopold Alt (born November 30, 1910 in Vienna , † July 21, 2011 in New York City ) was an American mathematician of Austrian origin. He is considered one of the pioneers in computer science .

biography

Franz Alt grew up as the son of a secular Jewish family in Vienna - graduated from the Stubenbastei grammar school in 1928 and obtained his doctorate in mathematics at the University of Vienna in 1932 . His research areas included set theoretic topology and the logical foundations of geometry .

He left Austria after the “ Anschluss ” with Germany in 1938 and moved to the USA. As a talented skier, he served in the US 10th Mountain Division during World War II and achieved the rank of second lieutenant . After the war he worked on ENIAC , a universal computer and one of the very first computers, as well as on other computer projects for the US Army . He then moved to the National Institute of Standards and Technology before continuing his career at the American Institute of Physics .

Alt is a co-founder of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the first scientific society for computer science, founded in 1947. From 1950 to 1952 he was her president. He also wrote one of the first books on digital computers, Electronic Digital Computers (Academic Press, 1958).

After his retirement in 1973, Alt became involved in numerous peace and environmental initiatives. In 1994 he was made a Fellow of the ACM.

Awards

On May 8, 2007 he was presented with the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st Class , from the Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Alt, Franz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Alt, Franz Leopold (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American mathematician of Austrian origin
DATE OF BIRTH	November 30, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH	Vienna
DATE OF DEATH	July 21, 2011
Place of death	New York City