David Wheeler

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

_______________ Forward Header _______________
Subject:        David Wheeler
Author: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell () newcastle ac uk>
Date:           14th December 2004 11:11:33 pm

Dave:

Sad news - David Wheeler, whom I'm proud to have counted as a friend 
of many years standing, passed away suddenly yesterday.

There is an In Memoriam notice on the Cambridge Computer Laboratory web-site:

   http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/UoCCL/misc/obit/wheeler.html

> David Wheeler, FRS
> Emeritus Professor of Computer Science
> Fellow of Darwin College
> 9 February 1927-13 December 2004
>
> It is with great sadness that we report the sudden death of 
> Professor David Wheeler. Prof. Wheeler was one of the pioneers of 
> Computer Science. He worked on the original EDSAC computer and wrote 
> the first computer program ever to be stored in a computer's working 
> memory. He pioneered the use of sub-routines and is particularly 
> remembered for his work on data compression.
>
> David Wheeler was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1981, one 
> of the earliest computer scientists to be so honoured. In October 
> 2003, he was made a Fellow of the Computer History Museum for his 
> invention of the closed subroutine, his architectural contributions 
> to the ILLIAC, the Cambridge Ring, and computer testing.
>
> David took his PhD in the University of Cambridge's Computer 
> Laboratory (then the Mathematical Laboratory) in the 1940s. He 
> continued to work in the Computer Lab right up until his death, a 
> decade after he had officially retired.
>
> David will be remembered for his vast knowledge of all areas of 
> computing, for his willingness to talk with anyone about the things 
> which interested him, for his friendliness and for his humility. 
> David was an inspiration and a help to hundreds of students and 
> colleagues over his long career. His legacy is as much in the lives 
> he touched as in the work he published. We have lost a good man and 
> a friend. He will be missed.

Regards

Brian

-- 
School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk   PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232  URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/

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