IP: High-Tech Legend Seymour Cray Dies

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

High-Tech Legend Seymour Cray Dies


 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuter) - Seymour Cray, known as the father of the
 supercomputer, died early Saturday nearly two weeks after suffering
serious injuries
 in a car accident, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 70.


 ``Seymour Cray died at 2:53 a.m. (4:53 a.m. EDT). The cause of death was
 complications from massive head injuries,'' said Kate Brewster,
spokeswoman at
 Penrose Community Hospital.


 Cray had been in the hospital since Sept. 22 when his Jeep Cherokee was
hit by
 another car on Interstate-25 in Colorado Springs.


 Cray is credited with developing the first fully transistorized
supercomputer in 1958,
 and after he formed his own company bearing his name in the 1970s, his
name became
 synonymous with cutting-edge technology.


 In 1957 with Bill Norris he started Control Corp., and then founded Cray
Research in
 Minnesota in 1972. Many of Cray's supercomputers -- large scientific
machines that
 can process large amounts of data at great speeds -- were used by the U.S.
 government, including the military.


 Earlier this year, Cray Research was sold to Silicon Graphics Inc.


 Cray then established Cray Computer Corp. in Colorado Springs, which was
separate
 from the first Cray company and which filed for bankruptcy in 1995 after
it failed to
 attract some $20 million it needed from investors.


 The development of the personal computer that delivered high power right
to the desk
 of scientists and engineers and slimmer defense budgets spelled the end
for the
 supercomputer, whose cost can run as high as $30 million.


 Reut11:16 10-05-96


 (05 Oct 1996 11:16 EDT)