Ken Iverson, Father of APL, dies at 83.

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Harry Saal <Harry () saal org>
Date: October 23, 2004 4:07:14 PM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Ken Iverson, Father of APL, dies at 83.

KENNETH E. IVERSON - Noted Computer Scientist (Globe & Mail)
Kenneth E. Iverson, a pioneer in the field of computer science, died on
Tuesday, October 19th in Toronto, Canada. He was 83. He is survived by 
his
wife of 58 years, Jean (nee Nicholson); three sons, Eric (Suzann), Paul 
and
Keith (Marcella); daughter Janet Cramer (Kevin); foster-daughters Robin
Dick and Sherry Matusky; and five grandchildren.

Born on a small farm in Camrose, Alberta in 1920, he served in the 
Canadian
military during World War II. Dr. Iverson earned a B.A. in Mathematics 
and
Physics from Queen's University and M.A. in Mathematics and Ph.D. in
Applied Mathematics from Harvard University.

While on the faculty of Harvard, Dr. Iverson helped establish the first
graduate course in computer science and also developed a concise
mathematical notation that formed the foundation for APL (A programming
Language) He then joined IBM in 1960.

While at IBM, Dr. Iverson made an historic contribution to computer 
science
by developing APL into an interactive programming language that was used
widely in academic and commercial applications.

An original thinker and noted scholar, he was named an IBM Fellow in 
1971.
For his efforts in mathematics and computer science, Dr. Iverson 
received
in 1979 the A.M. Turing Award given by the Association for Computing
Machinery, the most prestigious award in computer science.

He was awarded the Harry M. Goode Memorial Award in 1975 in recognition 
for
his conception and development of APL and named by the IEEE Computer
Society in 1981 as a Computer Pioneer Charter Recipient for his efforts 
in
the creation and continued vitality of the computer industry . In 1998, 
he
received from York University an honorary degree of Doctor of Science.

During his career Dr. Iverson worked in various IBM research facilities 
in
the northeastern United States before moving to Toronto, Canada in 1980 
to
join I.P. Sharp Associates, a timesharing computer system provider. In
recent years Dr. Iverson was involved in the development and 
implementation
of the ''J'' programming language with Jsoftware Inc.

Dr. Iverson's love of language and teaching were significant factors in 
his
lifetime work of trying to impose a grammar and discipline on the 
language
of mathematics.

A private service will be held for the immediate family. Memorial 
donations
may be made to a charity of your choice or to the bursary fund of the
Academy for Lifelong Learning (www.allto.ca), 59 St. George St., Toronto
ON, M5S 2E6.


=================================================================
Dr. Harry J. Saal, Member, Technical Committee
   Harry () TheTC org      http://www.thetc.org/
=================================================================

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