From martin@ocfmail.ocf.llnl.gov Fri Oct 8 03:20:52 1993 Received: from ocfmail.ocf.llnl.gov by dkuug.dk with SMTP id AA19186 (5.65c8/IDA-1.4.4j for ); Fri, 8 Oct 1993 18:19:55 +0100 Received: by ocfmail.ocf.llnl.gov (4.1/SMI-4.0) id AA27025; Fri, 8 Oct 93 10:20:52 PDT Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 10:20:52 PDT From: martin@ocfmail.ocf.llnl.gov (Jeanne T Martin) Message-Id: <9310081720.AA27025@ocfmail.ocf.llnl.gov> To: SC22WG5@dkuug.dk Subject: Honor for Fortran Developer X-Charset: ASCII X-Char-Esc: 29 To: WG5 From: Jeanne Martin Subject: Forwarded message from Bob Follett > Date: Thu, 7 Oct 93 16:24:48 EDT > From: "Follett RH" > To: SC22@dkuug.dk > Subject: (SC22.421) NAE Award for John Backus > > I just received the following news release. Although I do not normally > distribute IBM news releases to SC22, I thought you would find this one > of particular interest. > > Regards, > Bob Follett > ===================================================== > > JOHN BACKUS WINS MAJOR INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING AWARD > > October 7, 1993 > > > Retired IBM Fellow John Backus has been named recipient of the > 1993 Charles Stark Draper Award, the highest honor of the > National Academy of Engineering (NAE). The award carries a > $375,000 stipend and a gold medal. > > Mr. Backus was cited "for the development of FORTRAN -- FORmula > TRANslation -- the first general-purpose, high-level computer > language, which ushered in the computer software revolution." > The announcement was made yesterday at NAE headquarters in > Washington, D.C., by Robert M. White, president of the academy. > > "Before John Backus, only a handful of specialists could use the > computer," said White. "Today, everyone from preschoolers to > postgraduates can use the computer." > > Mr. Backus, named one of the first IBM Fellows in 1963, spent > most of his career at IBM's San Jose Research Laboratory and > Almaden Research Center. He retired October 31, 1991. > > "This is a richly deserved tribute," said IBM Chairman > Louis V. Gerstner Jr. "John Backus' pioneering work with FORTRAN > not only altered the course of computer history, it also helped > establish a tradition of technological leadership at IBM -- > a tradition that carries on to this day." > > FORTRAN opened up the world of computers to a wide variety of > scientists and engineers. By drastically simplifying computer > programming with little or no loss in machine efficiency, FORTRAN > enabled non-programmers to make direct use of computers. > FORTRAN also had a profound effect on other high-level languages, > including many of today's state-of-the-art languages, and is > still the most highly used language among engineers today. > > The award will be presented February 22, 1994, in Washington, > D.C., as the culmination to the annual Engineers' Week > celebration. > > The Draper award is issued every two years. The first was given > in 1989 to Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby for the integrated > circuit. > > The second, in 1991, went to Hans Von Ohain and Sir Frank Whittle > for the invention of the jet engine. Mr. Backus is the first > single recipient. > > Draper was a member of the staff of the Massachusetts Institute > of Technology and is credited with the invention of the inertial > navigational system, which is used in airline flight, missile > control, and space exploration. The prize is endowed by > the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass. >