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The Early Years of Academic Computing

cs.cornell.edu · 1,726 words · saved by 1 readers

The founders of computing at Dartmouth were two mathematicians, Tom Kurtz and John Kemeny. With help from a team of undergraduates, they created the Basic programming language and the Dartmouth Time Sharing System (DTSS). Kemeny later became President of Dartmouth and Kurtz was the first director of the Kiewit computing center. Under his leadership, Kiewit gained a reputation for outstanding service to the academic community. I was on sabbatical at Dartmouth in 1976 to 77, and from 1978 to 1985 I was head of computing, with various job titles. When I came to Dartmouth, the Kiewit technical group was very strong. It is hard to single out individuals, but Stan Dunten (networking) and Phil Koch (operating systems and programming languages) were outstanding. I was fortunate to inherit a smooth running computer center. The key people were Tom Byrne, who ran the business side, and Punch Taylor, who had overall responsibility for the technical work. DTSS reached its maturity during these year

Timesharing at Dartmouth The Dartmouth Time Sharing System The founders of computing at Dartmouth were two mathematicians, Tom Kurtz and John Kemeny. With help from a team of undergraduates, they created the Basic programming language and the Dartmouth Time Sharing System (DTSS). Kemeny later became President of Dartmouth and Kurtz was the first director of the Kiewit computing center. Under his leadership, Kiewit gained a reputation for outstanding service to the academic community. I was on sabbatical at Dartmouth in 1976 to 77, and from 1978 to 1985 I was head of computing, with…

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