View source for List of pioneers in computer science

{{Short description|None}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2021|cs1-dates=y}}
This is a list of people who made transformative breakthroughs in the creation, development and imagining of what [[computer]]s could do.

== Pioneers ==
<!-- Entries should be entered in alphabetical ascending order of the surnames -->
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Achievement<br />date
! Person !!class="unsortable"|Achievement
|-
|1977
| [[Leonard Adleman|Adleman, Leonard]]
|[[RSA (algorithm)|RSA algorithm]] and making [[public-key cryptography]] useful in practice.

|-
| 1944
| [[Howard Aiken|Aiken, Howard]]
| Conceived and co-designed the [[Harvard Mark I]].

|-
| style="width:90px" | 830~
| style="width:120px" | [[Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi|Al-Khwarizmi]]
| The term [[algorithm]] is derived from the [[algorism]], the technique of performing [[arithmetic]] with [[Hindu–Arabic numeral system|Hindu–Arabic numerals]] popularised by al-Khwarizmi in his book ''On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals''.<ref>{{cite book |title=e: From Understanding Principles to Solving Problems |date=2010 |isbn=978-1-60750-468-9 |editor=Mario Tokoro |pages=223–224 |language=en-US |chapter=9|publisher=IOS Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Cristopher Moore|title=The Nature of Computation|author2=Stephan Mertens|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2011|isbn=978-0-19-162080-5|page=36}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Algorithms in modern mathematics and computer science: proceedings, Urgench, Uzbek SSR, 16–22 September 1979|publisher=Springer|date=1981|isbn=978-3-540-11157-3|editor=A. P. Ershov, Donald Ervin Knuth}}</ref>

|-
| 1970, 1989
| [[Frances E. Allen|Allen, Frances E.]]
| Developed [[bit vector]] notation and program [[control-flow graph]]s; first female [[IBM]] Fellow (1989); first female recipient of the ACM's [[Turing Award]] (2006).
|-
|1954, 1964, 1967
|[[Gene Amdahl|Amdahl, Gene]]
|Pioneer of [[Mainframe computer|mainframe computing]]; designed [[IBM 704]]; chief architect of [[IBM System/360]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-12 |title=UW Alum Dr. Gene Amdahl, Pioneer of Mainframe Computing, Dies at 92 |url=https://www.physics.wisc.edu/2015/11/12/uw-alum-dr-gene-amdahl-pioneer-of-mainframe-computing-dies-at-92/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=Department of Physics |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The IBM System/360 {{!}} IBM |url=https://www.ibm.com/history/system-360 |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=www.ibm.com |language=en}}</ref> Formulated [[Amdahl's law]]; also worked on [[IBM 709]] and [[IBM 7030 Stretch]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=GENE M. AMDAHL 1922–2015 |url=https://www.nae.edu/219733/GENE-M-AMDAHL-19222015 |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=NAE Website |publisher=[[National Academy of Engineering]] |language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 1939
| [[John Vincent Atanasoff|Atanasoff, John]]
| Built the first electronic digital computer, the [[Atanasoff–Berry Computer]], though it was neither programmable nor [[Turing-completeness|Turing-complete]].

|-
| 1822, 1837
| [[Charles Babbage|Babbage, Charles]]
| Originated the concept of a programmable general-purpose computer; designed the [[Analytical Engine]] and built a prototype for a less powerful [[difference engine|mechanical calculator]].

|-
|1973
| [[Charles Bachman|Bachman, Charles]]
|Outstanding contributions to [[database]] technology.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1145/355611.362534 | title = The programmer as navigator | journal = Communications of the ACM | volume = 16 | issue = 11 | pages = 653–658 | date = 1973 | last = Bachman | first = C. W. | doi-access = free }}</ref>

|-
| 1954, 1963
| [[John Backus|Backus, John]]
| Led the team that created [[FORTRAN]] (''For''mula ''Tran''slation), the first practical high-level programming language, and formulated the [[Backus–Naur form]] that described the formal language [[syntax]].

|-
| 850~
| [[Banū Mūsā]]
| Three brothers who wrote the ''[[Book of Ingenious Devices]]'', describing what appears to be the first [[Program (machine)|programmable]] machine, an [[Music sequencer|automatic]] [[flute]] player.<ref name="Koetsier">{{cite journal |last1=Koetsier |first1=Teun |date=2001 |title=On the prehistory of programmable machines: musical automata, looms, calculators |journal=Mechanism and Machine Theory |volume=36 |issue=5 |pages=589–603 |doi=10.1016/S0094-114X(01)00005-2}}</ref>

|-
|1960–1964
|[[Paul Baran|Baran, Paul]]
|One of two independent inventors of the concept of digital [[packet switching]] used in modern [[computer network]]ing including the [[Internet]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=2015-05-30|title=The real story of how the Internet became so vulnerable|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/2015/05/30/net-of-insecurity-part-1/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530231409/http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/2015/05/30/net-of-insecurity-part-1/|archive-date=2015-05-30|access-date=2020-02-18|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en-US|quote=Historians credit seminal insights to Welsh scientist Donald W. Davies and American engineer Paul Baran}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Inductee Details - Paul Baran|url=http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=316|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906091231/http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=316|archive-date=6 September 2017|access-date=6 September 2017|publisher=National Inventors Hall of Fame}}</ref> Published a series of briefings and papers about dividing information into "message blocks" and sending them over distributed networks (1960–1964).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Baran|first=Paul|date=2002|title=The beginnings of packet switching: some underlying concepts|url=http://web.cs.ucla.edu/~lixia/papers/Baran2002.pdf|journal=IEEE Communications Magazine|language=en|volume=40|issue=7|pages=42–48|doi=10.1109/MCOM.2002.1018006|issn=0163-6804|quote=Essentially all the work was defined by 1961, and fleshed out and put into formal written form in 1962. The idea of hot potato routing dates from late 1960.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Monica|first1=1776 Main Street Santa|last2=California 90401-3208|title=Paul Baran and the Origins of the Internet|url=https://www.rand.org/about/history/baran.html|access-date=2020-02-15|website=www.rand.org|language=en}}</ref>

|-
| 1874
| [[Émile Baudot|Baudot, Émile]]
|French [[Telegraphy|telegraphic]] engineer; patented the [[Baudot code]], the first means of digital communication.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://leoferres.info/images/baudot_cp1874.jpg|title=Jean-Maurice- Emile Baudot. Système de télégraphie rapide, June 1874. Brevet 103,898; Source: Archives Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI)|access-date=2019-07-21 |archive-date=2017-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216144029/http://leoferres.info/images/baudot_cp1874.jpg|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[modem]] speed unit [[baud]] is named after him.

|-
| 1960s
| [[Friedrich L. Bauer|Bauer, Friedrich L.]]
| Proposed the [[stack (data structure)|stack]] for expression evaluation, with [[Edsger W. Dijkstra]]. Influential in establishing [[computer science]] as an independent discipline of science; coined the term [[software engineering]]. Contributed to [[numerical analysis]], fundamentals of interpretation and translation of programming languages, systematics of program development, [[program transformation]], and [[cryptology]].
|-
|1953
|[[Richard E. Bellman|Bellman, Richard E.]]
|American [[Applied mathematics|applied mathematician]] who introduced [[dynamic programming]] (1953)
|-
| 2018
| [[Yoshua Bengio|Bengio, Yoshua]]; [[Geoffrey Hinton|Hinton, Geoffrey]]; [[Yann LeCun|Lecun, Yann]]
| Conceptual and engineering breakthroughs that have made [[deep neural networks]] a critical component of computing<ref name="acm.org"/>

|-
| 1989, 1990
| [[Tim Berners-Lee|Berners-Lee, Tim]]
| Invented the [[World Wide Web]] and sent the first HTTP communication between client and server.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McPherson |first=Stephanie Sammartino |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wK0xBWfL9GkC |title=Tim Berners-Lee: Inventor of the World Wide Web |date=2009-09-01 |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |isbn=978-0-8225-7273-2 |language=en}}</ref>

|-
|1995
| [[Manuel Blum|Blum, Manuel]]
|Contributions to the foundations of [[computational complexity theory]] and its application to [[cryptography]] and [[program verification|program checking]]<ref name="Blum">{{cite web |title = A.M. Turing Award Laureate – Manuel Blum |website=amturing.acm.org |url = https://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/blum_4659082.cfm |access-date=4 November 2018 }}</ref>

|-
| 1966
| [[Corrado Böhm|Böhm, Corrado]]
| Theorized of the concept of [[structured programming]].

|-
| 1847, 1854
| [[George Boole|Boole, George]]
| Formalized [[Boolean algebra (logic)|Boolean algebra]], the basis for [[digital logic]] and computer science.

|-
| 1947
| [[Kathleen Booth|Booth, Kathleen]]
| Invented the first [[assembly language]].

|-
|1969, 1978
| [[Per Brinch Hansen|Brinch Hansen, Per]]
|Developed the [[RC 4000 Multiprogramming System|RC 4000 multiprogramming system]], which introduced the concept of an [[Kernel (operating system)|operating system kernel]] and the [[Separation of mechanism and policy|separation of policy and mechanism]]; effectively the first [[microkernel]] architecture.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = Per Brinch Hansen • IEEE Computer Society|url = http://www.computer.org/web/awards/pioneer-per-hansen|website = Computer.org|access-date = 2015-12-15}}</ref> Co-developed the [[Monitor (synchronization)|monitor]] with [[Tony Hoare]], and created the first monitor implementation.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://brinch-hansen.net/papers/1993a.pdf|title = Monitors and Concurrent Pascal: a personal history|last = Brinch Hansen|first = Per|date = April 1993|journal = 2nd ACM Conference on the History of Programming Languages}}</ref> Implemented the first form of [[remote procedure call]] in the RC 4000,<ref name=":0" /> and was first to propose remote procedure calls as a structuring concept for [[distributed computing]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://brinch-hansen.net/papers/1978a.pdf|title = Distributed processes: a concurrent programming concept|last = Brinch Hansen|first = Per|date = November 1978|journal = Communications of the ACM|volume = 21|issue = 11|pages = 934–941|doi = 10.1145/359642.359651|citeseerx = 10.1.1.107.3108|s2cid = 11610744}}</ref>

|-
| 1959, 1995
| [[Fred Brooks|Brooks, Fred]]
| Manager of IBM [[System/360]] and [[OS/360]] projects; author of ''[[The Mythical Man-Month]]''.

|-
| 1908
| [[L. E. J. Brouwer|Brouwer, Luitzen Egbertus Jan]]
| Founded [[intuitionistic logic]], which later came to prevalent use in [[proof assistant]]s.

|-
| 1954
| [[Arthur Burks|Burks, Arthur]]
| Proposed [[Reverse Polish Notation]] with Don Warren and Jesse Wright in 1954, unaware of [[Konrad Zuse]]'s earlier use of postfix notation in his Z3 in 1941, and later independently reinvented by [[Friedrich L. Bauer]] and [[Edsger W. Dijkstra]]<!-- in the early 1960s --> for use with [[stack (data structure)|stack]]s.

|-
| 1930
| [[Vannevar Bush|Bush, Vannevar]]
|Analogue computing pioneer; originator of the [[Memex]] concept, which led to the development of [[Hypertext]]

|-
| 1951
| [[David Caminer|Caminer, David]]
| With [[John Pinkerton (computer designer)|John Pinkerton]], developed the [[LEO computer]], the first business computer, for [[J. Lyons and Co]]

|-
| 1974
| [[Edwin Catmull|Catmull, Edwin]]
| Computer generated imagery (CGI) and 3D graphics pioneer who developed [[texture mapping]], the [[Catmull-Clark subdivision surface]] algorithm (with [[James H. Clark|Jim Clark]]), and the [[Catmull-Rom spline]] (with [[Raphael Rom]]. Former vice president of [[Industrial Light & Magic]] and co-founder of and former president of [[Pixar]]
|-
| 1978
| [[Vint Cerf|Cerf, Vint]]
| With [[Bob Kahn]], designed the [[Transmission Control Protocol]] and [[Internet Protocol]] ([[TCP/IP]]), the primary data [[communication protocols]] of the [[Internet]] and other [[computer network]]s

|-
| 1956
| [[Noam Chomsky|Chomsky, Noam]]
| Made contributions to computer science with his work in [[linguistics]]. Developed [[Chomsky hierarchy]], directly impacting [[programming language theory]] and other branches of computer science.

|-
| 1936
| [[Alonzo Church|Church, Alonzo]]
| Made fundamental contributions to theoretical computer science, specifically in the development of [[computability theory]] in the form of [[lambda calculus]]. Independently of [[Alan Turing]], formulated what is now known as the [[Church-Turing Thesis]] and proved that [[first-order logic]] is [[Entscheidungsproblem|undecidable]].

|-
| 1962
| [[Wesley A. Clark|Clark, Wesley A.]]
| Designed [[LINC]], the first functional computer scaled down and priced for individual users (1963). Many of its features are considered prototypes of essential elements of personal computers.

|-
| 1981
| [[Edmund M. Clarke|Clarke, Edmund M.]]
| Developed [[model checking]] and formal verification of software and hardware, with [[E. Allen Emerson]].

|-
|1987
| [[John Cocke (computer scientist)|Cocke, John]]
|Significant contributions to compiler design and theory, the architecture of large systems, and the development of [[reduced instruction set computer]]s (RISC)

|-
| 1970
| [[Edgar F. Codd|Codd, Edgar F.]]
| Proposed and formalized the [[relational model]] of data management, the theoretical basis of [[relational database]]s

|-
| 1971
| [[Lynn Conway|Conway, Lynn]]
| [[Superscalar architecture]] with multiple-issue out-of-order dynamic instruction scheduling

|-
| 1967
| [[Stephen Cook|Cook, Stephen]]
| Formalized the notion of NP-completeness, inspiring a great deal of research in [[computational complexity theory]]

|-
| 1965
| [[James Cooley|Cooley, James]]
| With [[John W. Tukey]], created the [[Cooley-Tukey FFT algorithm|fast Fourier transform]]

|-
|1944
| [[Allen Coombs|Coombs, Allen]]
|Designed and built the Mark II [[Colossus computer]]s; superseded the Mark I version (which was the world's first digital, electronic computing device)

|-
|1989
| [[Fernando J. Corbató|Corbató, Fernando J.]]
|Pioneering work organizing the concepts and leading the development of the general-purpose, large-scale, [[time-sharing]] and resource-sharing computer systems [[Compatible Time-Sharing System|CTSS]] and [[Multics]]

|-
| 1964 – 1996
| [[Seymour Cray|Cray, Seymour]]
| Designed a series of computers that were the fastest in the world for decades; and founded Cray Research, which built many of them; credited with creating the supercomputer industry

|-
| 1978, 1993
| [[Dave Cutler|Cutler, David N.]]
| Major pioneer of operating-system design through his work at [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] and [[Microsoft]], where he was lead engineer of the [[OpenVMS|VMS]] and [[Windows NT]] kernels (respectively)

|-
| 1962
| [[Ole-Johan Dahl|Dahl, Ole-Johan]]
| With [[Kristen Nygaard]], invented the proto-object oriented language [[SIMULA]]

|-
|1965
|[[Donald Davies|Davies, Donald]]
|One of two independent inventors of the concept of digital [[packet switching]] used in modern [[computer network]]ing including the [[Internet]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name="NIHF2007">{{cite web|title=Inductee Details - Donald Watts Davies|url=http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=328|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906091936/http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=328|archive-date=6 September 2017|access-date=6 September 2017|publisher=National Inventors Hall of Fame}}</ref> Conceived of and named the concept for data communication networks (1965–66).<ref name="Roberts1978">{{cite web|last1=Roberts|first1=Dr. Lawrence G.|date=November 1978|title=The Evolution of Packet Switching|url=http://www.packet.cc/files/ev-packet-sw.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324033133/http://www.packet.cc/files/ev-packet-sw.html|archive-date=2016-03-24|access-date=5 September 2017|quote=Almost immediately after the 1965 meeting, Donald Davies conceived of the details of a store-and-forward packet switching system|postscript=none}}; {{cite web|last1=Roberts|first1=Dr. Lawrence G.|date=May 1995|title=The ARPANET & Computer Networks|url=http://www.packet.cc/files/arpanet-computernet.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324032800/http://www.packet.cc/files/arpanet-computernet.html|archive-date=2016-03-24|access-date=13 April 2016|quote=Then in June 1966, Davies wrote a second internal paper, "Proposal for a Digital Communication Network" In which he coined the word packet,- a small sub part of the message the user wants to send, and also introduced the concept of an "Interface computer" to sit between the user equipment and the packet network.}}</ref><ref>{{citation|author=Donald Davies|title=A Historical Study of the Beginnings of Packet Switching|url=http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/content/44/3/152.extract|journal=Computer Journal, British Computer Society|date=2001}}{{dead link|date=May 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Many of the wide-area packet-switched networks of the 1970s, including [[ARPANET]], were similar "in nearly all respects" to his original 1965 design.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal|last1=Roberts|first1=Dr. Lawrence G.|date=November 1978|title=The Evolution of Packet Switching|url=http://www.ismlab.usf.edu/dcom/Ch10_Roberts_EvolutionPacketSwitching_IEEE_1978.pdf|journal=IEEE Invited Paper|access-date=2017-09-17|quote=In nearly all respects, Davies’ original proposal, developed in late 1965, was similar to the actual networks being built today.|archive-date=2018-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231092936/http://www.ismlab.usf.edu/dcom/Ch10_Roberts_EvolutionPacketSwitching_IEEE_1978.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

|-
| 1976
| [[Whitfield Diffie|Diffie, Whitfield]]
|Fundamental contributions to modern cryptography. Diffie and Hellman's groundbreaking 1976 paper "New Directions in Cryptography"<ref name="DiffieHellman1976">{{cite journal |last1=Diffie|first1=W. |last2=Hellman |first2=M. |title=New directions in cryptography |journal=IEEE Transactions on Information Theory |volume=22|issue=6|date=1976|pages=644–654 |url = https://www-ee.stanford.edu/~hellman/publications/24.pdf |doi=10.1109/TIT.1976.1055638 |citeseerx=10.1.1.37.9720 }}</ref> introduced the ideas of public-key cryptography and digital signatures, the foundation of security protocols used on the Internet today.<ref name="diffie_8371646">{{cite web |url = http://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/diffie_8371646.cfm |title=Cryptography Pioneers Receive 2015 ACM A.M. Turing Award |publisher=ACM }}</ref>

|-
| 1968
| [[Edsger Dijkstra|Dijkstra, Edsger W.]]
| Pioneered the [[Dijkstra's algorithm|shortest path algorithm]]; coined the term [[structured programming]]; invented the [[semaphore (programming)|semaphore]]; famously suggested that the [[Goto (command)|GOTO statement]] should be [[considered harmful]]

|-
| 1918
| [[William Eccles (physicist)|Eccles, William]] and [[Frank Wilfred Jordan|Jordan, Frank Wilfred]]
| Patented the Eccles–Jordan trigger circuit,<ref>William Henry Eccles and Frank Wilfred Jordan, "Improvements in ionic relays" British patent number: GB 148582 (filed: 1918-06-21; published: 1920-08-05).  Available on-line at:  http://v3.espacenet.com/origdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=GB148582&F=0&QPN=GB148582 .</ref> the so-called "bistable [[Flip-flop (electronics)|flip-flop]]", a building block of all digital [[Memory cell (computing)|memory cells]]. Built from [[vacuum tube]]s, their concept was essential for the success of the [[Colossus computer|Colossus codebreaking computer]].

|-
| 1943, 1951
| [[J. Presper Eckert|Eckert, J. Presper]]
| With [[John Mauchly]], designed and built [[ENIAC]], the first modern (all electronic, Turing-complete) computer; and [[UNIVAC I]], the first commercially available computer

|-
| 1981
| [[E. Allen Emerson|Emerson, E. Allen]]
| Developed [[model checking]] and formal verification of software and hardware, with [[Edmund M. Clarke]]

|-
| 1963
| [[Douglas Engelbart|Engelbart, Douglas]]
| Best known for inventing the [[computer mouse]], with [[Bill English (computer engineer)|Bill English]]; pioneer of human–computer interaction whose Augment team developed [[hypertext]], [[computer network|networked computers]], and precursors to [[GUI]]s

|-
| 1971
| [[Federico Faggin|Faggin, Federico]]
| Designed the first commercial microprocessor, [[Intel 4004]]

|-
|1994
| [[Edward Feigenbaum|Feigenbaum, Edward]]
|Pioneering the design and construction of large-scale artificial intelligence systems, demonstrating the practical importance and potential commercial impact of artificial intelligence technology<ref name="To dream the possible dream">{{cite journal | last1 = Reddy | first1 = R. | title = To dream the possible dream | doi = 10.1145/229459.233436 | journal = Communications of the ACM | volume = 39 | issue = 5 | pages = 105–112 | date = 1996 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

|-
| 1974
| [[Elizabeth Feinler|Feinler, Elizabeth]]
| Led team that defined a simple text file format for Internet host names, which became the [[Domain Name System]]; her group became the naming authority for the top-level domains of .mil, .gov, .edu, .org, and .com

|-
|1943
| [[Tommy Flowers|Flowers, Tommy]]
| Designed and built the Mark I [[Colossus computer]], the world's first programmable, digital, electronic, computing devices

|-
|1978
| [[Robert W. Floyd|Floyd, Robert W.]]
| Had a clear influence on methodologies for the creation of efficient and reliable software; helped to found these important sub-fields of [[computer science]]: theory of [[parsing]], [[semantics]] of programming languages, automatic [[program verification]], [[automatic programming|automatic program synthesis]], and [[analysis of algorithms]]<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Floyd | first1 = R. W. | title = The paradigms of programming | doi = 10.1145/359138.359140 | journal = Communications of the ACM | volume = 22 | issue = 8 | pages = 455–460 | date = 1979 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

|-
| 1994
| [[Sally Floyd|Floyd, Sally]]
| Founded the field of Active Queue Management; co-invented [[Random early detection|Random Early Detection]], used in almost all Internet routers

|-
| 1879
| [[Gottlob Frege|Frege, Gottlob]]
| Extended Aristotelian logic with [[first-order predicate calculus]] independently of [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], a crucial precursor in [[computability theory]]; also relevant to early work on [[artificial intelligence]], [[logic programming]]

|-
| 1985
| [[Stephen Furber|Furber, Stephen]] <br> [[Sophie Wilson|Wilson, Sophie]]
| Led the creation of the ARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/hall/bios/Steve,Furber/ | title=Computer History Museum &#124; Fellow Awards – Steve Furber| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402210307/http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/hall/bios/Steve,Furber/| archive-date=2013-04-02}}</ref>

|-
| 1958, 1961, 1967
| [[Seymour Ginsburg|Ginsburg, Seymour]]
| Proved "[[don't-care term|don't-care]]" circuit minimization does not necessarily yield optimal results; proved that the [[ALGOL]] programming language was context-free (linking [[formal language]] theory to the problem of [[compiler]] writing); invented [[Abstract family of languages|AFL Theory]]

|-
| 1931
| [[Kurt Gödel|Gödel, Kurt]]
| Proved that [[Peano arithmetic]] could not be both [[logically consistent]] and complete in [[first-order predicate calculus]].  Church, Kleene, and Turing developed the foundations of computation theory based on [[corollaries]] to Gödel's work.

|-
| 1989
| [[Shafi Goldwasser|Goldwasser, Shafi]]
| Invented [[zero-knowledge proof]]s with [[Silvio Micali|Micali]] and [[Charles Rackoff|Rackoff]]; she and Micali received the [[Turing Award]] (2012) for this and other work.

|-
| 2011
| [[Susan L. Graham|Graham, Susan L.]]{{undue weight inline|reason=The achievements listed in the Achievement column and her article appear to be vague and undetailed, and whilst she has many awards it is unclear which (if any) of her achievements qualify her for 'pioneer' status.|date=April 2022}}
| Awarded the 2009 [[IEEE John von Neumann Medal]] for "contributions to programming language design and implementation and for exemplary service to the discipline of computer science"

|-
| 1953
| [[Frank Gray (researcher)|Gray, Frank]]
| Physicist and researcher at [[Bell Labs]], developed the reflected binary code (RBC) or [[Gray code]].<ref name="Gray_1953">{{cite web |author-first=Frank |author-last=Gray |author-link=Frank Gray (researcher) |title=Pulse code communication |date=1953-03-17 |url=http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2632058.pdf}} U.S. patent no. 2,632,058</ref> Gray's methodologies are used for error detection and correction in digital communication systems, such as [[QAM]] in [[digital subscriber line]] networks.

|-
| 1974, 2005
| [[Jim Gray (computer scientist)|Gray, Jim]]
| Innovator in [[database systems]] and [[transaction processing]] implementation

|-
| 1986, 1990
| [[Barbara Grosz|Grosz, Barbara]]{{undue weight inline|reason=unclear her achievements merit inclusion. She has some awards, and a notable academic career, but inclusion here is perhaps a stretch|date=October 2017}} 
| Created the first computational model of [[discourse]], establishing the field of research and influencing language-processing technologies; developed [[SharedPlans]] model for collaboration in [[multi-agent systems]]

|-
| 1988, 2015
| [[John Gustafson (scientist)|Gustafson, John]]
| Proved the viability of parallel computing experimentally and theoretically; formulated [[Gustafson's law|Gustafson's Law]]; developed high-efficiency formats for representing real numbers [[Unum (number format)|Unum]] and [[Unum (number format)#Unum III|Posit]]

|-
| 1971
| [[Margaret Hamilton (scientist)|Hamilton, Margaret]]
| Developed the concepts of asynchronous software, priority scheduling, end-to-end testing, and human-in-the-loop decision capability, such as priority displays which then became the foundation for ultra-reliable software design

|-
| 1950
| [[Richard Hamming|Hamming, Richard]]
| Created the fields of [[error-correcting code]], [[Hamming code]], [[Hamming matrix]], the [[Hamming window#Hamming window|Hamming window]], [[Hamming numbers]], [[sphere-packing]] (or [[Hamming bound]]), and the [[Hamming distance]];{{sfn|Morgan|1998|pp=973–975}}{{sfn|Hamming|1950|pp=147–160}} established the concept of [[Hamming bound|perfect code]]{{sfn|Ling|Xing|2004|pp=82–88}}{{sfn|Pless|1982|pp=21–24}}

|-
| 1956, 1958, 1974
| [[Wolfgang Händler|Händler, Wolfgang]]
| Pioneering work on [[automata theory]], [[parallel computing]], [[artificial intelligence]], [[man-machine interface]]s and [[computer graphics]];<!-- too many to list --> one of the lead architects of the {{ill|TR 4 (computer){{!}}TR 4|de|TR 4 (Rechner)}} supercomputer;<!-- 1956-1959 --> invented [[Händler diagram]]s for [[logic function minimization]]<!-- 1958 -->; devised the {{ill|Erlangen Classification System|de}} (ECS) for parallel computers<!-- 1974 -->

|-
|2019
|[[Pat Hanrahan|Hanrahan, Pat]]
|Fundamental contributions to 3D computer graphics, with revolutionary impact on computer-generated imagery (CGI) in filmmaking and other applications

|-
|1993
| [[Juris Hartmanis|Hartmanis, Juris]]
|Foundations for the field of [[computational complexity theory]]<ref name="Stearns 1994 95–99">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1145/188280.188379 | title = Turing Award lecture: It's time to reconsider time | journal = Communications of the ACM | volume = 37 | issue = 11 | pages = 95–99 | date = 1994 | last = Stearns | first = R. E. | doi-access = free }}</ref>

|-
| 1981, 1995, 1999
| [[Anders Hejlsberg|Hejlsberg, Anders]]
| Author of [[Turbo Pascal]] at [[Borland]]; chief architect of [[Delphi (IDE)|Delphi]]; designer and lead architect of [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]] at Microsoft

|-
| 1976
| [[Martin Hellman|Hellman, Martin]]
|Fundamental contributions to modern cryptography. Diffie and Hellman's groundbreaking 1976 paper, "New Directions in Cryptography",<ref name="DiffieHellman1976"/> introduced the ideas of public-key cryptography and digital signatures, the foundation for security protocols on the Internet today<ref name="diffie_8371646"/>

|-
|2017
|[[John L. Hennessy|Hennessy, John L.]]
|Pioneered a systematic, quantitative approach to the design and evaluation of computer architectures with enduring impact on the microprocessor industry

|-
| 2008, 2012, 2018
| [[Geoffrey Hinton|Hinton, Geoffrey]]
| Popularized and enabled the use of [[artificial neural networks]] and [[deep learning]], among the most successful tools in modern [[artificial intelligence]] efforts; received the Turing Award (2018) for conceptual and engineering breakthroughs that have made [[deep neural networks]] a critical component of computing<ref name="acm.org">[https://www.acm.org/media-center/2019/march/turing-award-2018 Fathers of the Deep Learning Revolution Receive ACM A.M. Turing Award]</ref>

|-
| 1961, 1969, 1978, 1980
| [[Tony Hoare|Hoare, C. A. R.]]
| Developed the formal language [[Communicating Sequential Processes]] (CSP), [[Hoare logic]] for verifying program correctness, and [[Quicksort]]; fundamental contributions to the definition and design of programming languages

|-
| 1968
| [[Betty Holberton|Holberton, Betty]]
| Wrote the first [[mainframe sort merge]] on the [[Univac]]

|-
| 1889
| [[Herman Hollerith|Hollerith, Herman]]
| Widely regarded as the father of modern [[History of computing hardware|machine data processing]], his invention of the [[Punched card|punched card tabulating machine]] marked the beginning of the era of semiautomatic [[data processing]] systems

|-
|1986
| [[John Hopcroft|Hopcroft, John]]
|Fundamental achievements in the design and analysis of algorithms and data structures

|-
| 1952
| [[Grace Hopper|Hopper, Grace]]
| Pioneered work on the necessity for high-level programming languages, which she termed ''automatic programming''; wrote the A-O [[compiler]], which heavily influenced the [[COBOL]] language

|-
| 1997
| [[Feng-hsiung Hsu|Hsu Feng-hsiung]]
| Work leading to the creation of the [[Deep Thought (chess computer)|Deep Thought]] chess computer; architect and principal designer [[IBM Deep Blue]] chess computer that defeated the reigning [[World Chess Championship|World Chess Champion]], [[Garry Kasparov]], in 1997

|-
| 1952
| [[David Albert Huffman|Huffman, David]]
| Created [[Huffman coding]]

|-
| 1952
| [[Cuthbert Hurd|Hurd, Cuthbert]]
| Helped IBM develop its first general-purpose computer, the [[IBM 701]]

|-
| 1945, 1953
| [[Harry Huskey|Huskey, Harry]]
| Contributions to the design of early computers including [[ENIAC]], [[EDVAC]], [[Pilot ACE]], [[EDVAC]], [[SEAC (computer)|SEAC]], [[SWAC (computer)|SWAC]], and [[Bendix G-15]] (the latter described as the first [[personal computer]], being operable by one person)

|-
| 1954, 1962
| [[Kenneth E. Iverson|Iverson, Kenneth]]
| Helped establish and taught the first graduate course in computer science (at [[Harvard University|Harvard]]); invented the [[APL programming language]]; contributions to interactive computing

|-
| 1801
| [[Joseph Marie Jacquard|Jacquard, Joseph Marie]]
| Built and demonstrated the [[Jacquard loom]], a programmable mechanized loom controlled by a tape constructed from punched cards

|-
| 1206
| [[Al-Jazari]]
| Invented [[Program (machine)|programmable]] machines, including programmable [[humanoid robot]]s,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shef.ac.uk/marcoms/eview/articles58/robot.html|title=articles58|date=29 June 2007|website=Shef.ac.uk|access-date=25 October 2017|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629182810/http://www.shef.ac.uk/marcoms/eview/articles58/robot.html|archive-date=29 June 2007}}</ref> and the [[castle clock]], an [[astronomical clock]] considered the first [[Computer programming|programmable]] [[analog computer]]<ref name="Ancient Discoveries">{{cite web|title=Ancient Discoveries, Episode 11: Ancient Robots|publisher=[[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxjbaQl0ad8|access-date=2008-09-06}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}</ref>

|-
|1989
| [[William Kahan|Kahan, William]]
|Fundamental contributions to [[numerical analysis]]; foremost expert on [[floating point|floating-point]] computations; dedicated to "making the world safe for numerical computations"

|-
| 1978
| [[Bob Kahn|Kahn, Bob]]
|  Designed the [[Transmission Control Protocol]] and [[Internet Protocol]] ([[TCP/IP]]), the primary data [[communication protocols]] of the [[Internet]] and other [[computer networks]]

|-
| 1952, 1953
| [[Maurice Karnaugh|Karnaugh, Maurice]]
| Creator of the [[Karnaugh map]],<!-- 1953 --> a variation on [[Edward Veitch]]'s [[Veitch chart]]<!-- 1952 -->; rediscovery of [[Allan Marquand]]'s much earlier [[Marquand diagram|logical diagram]]<!-- 1881 --> used for [[logic function minimization]]

|-
|1985
| [[Richard M. Karp|Karp, Richard M.]]
|Contributions to algorithm theory, including the development of efficient algorithms for network flow and other combinatorial optimization problems; identified polynomial-time computability with the intuitive notion of algorithmic efficiency; contributed to the theory of [[NP-complete]]ness

|-
| 1973
| [[Jacek Karpinski|Karpinski, Jacek]]
| Developed the first differential analyzer using transistors; developed one of the first machine-learning algorithms for character and image recognition; invented of one of the first minicomputers, the [[K-202]]

|-
| 1970~
| [[Alan Kay|Kay, Alan]]
| Pioneered many ideas at the root of object-oriented programming languages; led the team that developed [[Smalltalk]]; made fundamental contributions to personal computing

|-
|1948-1990s
|[[Tom Kilburn|Kilburn, Tom]]
| With Freddie Williams he worked on the Williams–Kilburn tube and developed the world's first electronic stored-program computer, the Manchester Baby, while working at the University of Manchester. His work propelled Manchester and Britain into the forefront of the emerging field of computer science. He also worked on the development of Atlas, one of the most powerful supercomputer in 1960s.

|-
| 1972–1994
| [[Gary Kildall|Kildall, Gary]]
| Introduced the theory of [[data-flow analysis]] in [[optimizing compiler]]s (global expression optimization, [[Kildall's method]]<!-- 1972 -->). Worked on instruction set emulators ([[INTERP]]<!-- 1973/1974 -->), found an innovative software relocation method ([[page boundary relocation]])<!-- 1977/1978 -->, and laid the foundation to the concepts of [[binary recompilation]] ([[XLT86]]<!-- 1981 -->). Developed the first high-level [[programming language]] and compiler for [[microcomputer]]s ([[PL/M]]<!-- 1973 -->) and the first mainstream [[operating system]] for microcomputers ([[CP/M]])<!-- 1974 -->. Invented the concept of a [[hardware abstraction layer]] called the [[BIOS]]<!-- (Basic Input/Output System) --><!-- 1975 -->, with both conceptually laying the foundation to all [[DOS]]-based operating systems on [[personal computer]]s<!-- 1980+ -->. Worked on [[diskette]] track [[disk buffer|buffering]] schemes, [[read-ahead]] algorithms, [[virtual disk]] drives, and [[file system]] [[cache (computing)|caching]]. Developed the first computer interface for [[video disk]]s and pioneered [[CD-ROM]] file systems, introducing the first [[encyclopedia]] for computers ([[The Electronic Encyclopedia]]<!-- 1985 -->). Pioneered a modular [[private branch exchange|PBX]] communication system integrating [[Plain old telephone service|land-line]]s with [[mobile phone]]s ([[Intelliphone (PLS)|Intelliphone]]) and to remotely connect with [[home appliance]]s.<!-- early 1990s -->

|-
| 1957
| [[Russell Kirsch|Kirsch, Russell Gray]]
| Whilst working for the [[National Bureau of Standards]] (NBS), Kirsch used a recently developed [[image scanner]] to scan and store the first [[digital photograph]].<ref name=Earliest>{{Citation |title= Earliest Image Processing |url= http://museum.nist.gov/panels/seac/EARLIEST.HTM |publisher= [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] |last= Kirsch |first= Russell A. |work= NISTS Museum; SEAC and the Start of Image Processing at the National Bureau of Standards |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140719103629/http://museum.nist.gov/panels/seac/EARLIEST.HTM |archive-date= 2014-07-19 }}</ref> His scanned photo of his three-month-old son was deemed by [[Life (magazine)|''Life'' magazine]] as one of the "100 Photographs That Changed The World".

|-
| 1961–1970s
| [[Leonard Kleinrock|Kleinrock, Leonard]]
| Pioneered the application of [[queueing theory]] to model delays in [[message switching]] networks in his Ph.D. thesis in 1961–1962, published as a book in 1964.<ref>{{Citation|last=Kleinrock|first=Leonard|title=Information flow in large communication nets|journal=RLE Quarterly Progress Report|issue=1|date=1961|author-link=Leonard Kleinrock}}</ref> He later published several of the standard works on the subject. In the early 1970s, he applied queueing theory to model the performance of [[packet switching]] networks. This work played an influential role in the development of the [[ARPANET]], the precursor to the [[Internet]]. He supervised the graduate students who worked on the early [[communication protocol]]s for the ARPANET. His theoretical work on [[hierarchical routing]] in the late 1970s with student [[Farouk Kamoun]] remains critical to the operation of the Internet today.

|-
| 1936
| [[Stephen Cole Kleene|Kleene, Stephen Cole]]
| Pioneered work with [[Alonzo Church]] on the [[Lambda Calculus]] that first laid down the foundations of computation theory.

|-
| 1968, 1989
| [[Donald Knuth|Knuth, Donald]]
| Wrote ''[[The Art of Computer Programming]]'' and created [[TeX]]. Coined the term "analysis of algorithms" and made major contributions to that field, including popularizing [[Big O notation]].

|-
| 1990-1993
| [[Simon S. Lam|Lam, Simon S.]]
| Lam was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame (2023) by the [[Internet Society]] for “inventing secure sockets in 1991 and implementing the first secure sockets layer, named SNP, in 1993.”<ref>[https://www.internethalloffame.org/inductee/simon-s-lam ''Simon S. Lam, 2023 Internet Hall of Fame inductee'']</ref> In 1990, he conceived the idea of a new security sublayer in the Internet protocol stack. This way, application programmers do not need to know much about implementation details for security.  Also, the upper interface of the sublayer would enable implementation changes in the future. Lam’s idea of a sublayer which offers a “secure sockets interface” to applications was novel and a radical departure from contemporary security research for Internet applications (e.g., MIT’s Kerberos, 1988-1992). SNP was created for Internet applications in general. Subsequent secure sockets layers, SSL and [[Transport Layer Security|TLS]], developed years later for commercial browsers, followed the same architecture and key ideas of SNP. Today, TLS 1.3 is used not only for all [[e-commerce]] applications (banking, shopping, etc.) on WWW, but also for email, and many other Internet applications. 
|-
|1950-1960
| [[Hedy Lamarr|Lamarr, Hedy]]
|At the beginning of World War II, she and composer [[George Antheil]] developed a radio guidance system for [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[torpedo]]es that used [[spread spectrum]] and [[frequency hopping]] technology to defeat the threat of [[Radio jamming|jamming]] by the [[Axis powers]]. Although the [[US Navy]] did not adopt the technology until the 1960s, the principles of their work are incorporated into [[Bluetooth]] and [[GPS]] technology and are similar to methods used in legacy versions of [[CDMA]] and [[Wi-Fi]]. This work led to their induction into the [[National Inventors Hall of Fame]] in 2014.
|-
| 1974, 1978
| [[Leslie Lamport|Lamport, Leslie]]
| Formulated algorithms to solve many fundamental problems in distributed systems (e.g. the [[Lamport's bakery algorithm|bakery algorithm]]).<br />Developed the concept of a [[Lamport timestamps|logical clock]], enabling synchronization between distributed entities based on the events through which they communicate. Created [[LaTeX]].

|-
|1972
| [[Butler W. Lampson|Lampson, Butler W.]]
|Development of distributed, personal computing environments and the technology for their implementation: [[workstation]]s, [[computer network|networks]], [[operating system]]s, programming systems, [[computer display|displays]], [[computer security|security]] and [[word processor|document publishing]].

|-
| 1964-1966
| [[Peter Landin|Landin, Peter]]
| Used the [[lambda calculus]] to formally specify the semantics of programming languages, and developed an early [[functional programming language]] named [[ISWIM]].

|-
| 1951
| [[Sergei Alekseyevich Lebedev|Lebedev, Sergei Alekseyevich]]
| Independently designed the first electronic computer in the Soviet Union, [[MESM]], in Kiev, Ukraine.

|-
| 1670~
| [[Gottfried Leibniz|Leibniz, Gottfried]]
| Made advances in symbolic logic, such as the [[Calculus ratiocinator]], that were heavily influential on [[Gottlob Frege]]. He anticipated later developments in [[first-order predicate calculus]], which were crucial for the theoretical foundations of computer science.

|-
| 1960
| [[J. C. R. Licklider|Licklider, J. C. R.]]
| Began the investigation of human–computer interaction, leading to many advances in computer interfaces as well as in [[cybernetics]] and [[artificial intelligence]].

|-
| 1987
| [[Barbara Liskov|Liskov, Barbara]]
| Developed the [[Liskov substitution principle]], which guarantees [[formal semantics of programming languages|semantic]] interoperability of [[data type]]s in a hierarchy.

|-
| 1300~
| [[Ramon Llull|Llull, Ramon]]
| Designed multiple symbolic representations machines, and pioneered notions of symbolic representation and manipulation to produce knowledge—both of which were major influences on [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]].

|-
| 1852
| [[Ada Lovelace|Lovelace, Ada]]
| An English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the [[Analytical Engine]]. She was the first to recognize that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and created the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine. As a result, she is often regarded as the first to recognize the full potential of a "computing machine" and the first computer programmer.

|-
| 1909
| [[Percy Ludgate|Ludgate, Percy]]
| [[Charles Babbage]] in 1843 and Percy Ludgate in 1909 designed the first two [[Analytical Engine]]s in history. Ludgate's engine used multiplication as its basis (using his own discrete [[Irish logarithms]]), had the first multiplier-accumulator (MAC), was first to exploit a MAC to perform division, stored numbers as displacements of rods in shuttles, and had several other novel features, including for program control.

|-
| 1971
| [[Per Martin-Löf|Martin-Löf, Per]]
| Published an early draft on the type theory that many [[proof assistant]]s build on.

|-
| 1943, 1951
| [[John Mauchly|Mauchly, John]]
| With [[J. Presper Eckert]], designed and built the [[ENIAC]], the first modern (all electronic, Turing-complete) computer, and the [[UNIVAC I]], the first commercially available computer. Also worked on [[BINAC]] (1949), [[EDVAC]] (1949), [[UNIVAC]] (1951) with [[Grace Hopper]] and [[Jean Bartik]], to develop early [[stored program]] computers.

|-
| 1958
| [[John McCarthy (computer scientist)|McCarthy, John]]
| Invented [[LISP]], a [[functional programming language]].

|-
|1956, 2012
| [[Edward J. McCluskey|McCluskey, Edward J.]]
| Fundamental contributions that shaped the design and testing of digital systems, including the first algorithm for digital logic synthesis, the Quine-McCluskey logic minimization method.

|-
| 1986
| [[Bertrand Meyer|Meyer, Bertrand]]
| Developed [[design by contract]] in the guise of the [[Eiffel programming language]].

|-
|2012
|[[Silvio Micali|Micali, Silvio]]
|For transformative work that laid the complexity-theoretic foundations for the science of cryptography and in the process pioneered new methods for efficient verification of mathematical proofs in complexity theory.

|-
|1991
| [[Robin Milner|Milner, Robin]]
| 1) [[LCF theorem prover|LCF]], the mechanization of Scott's Logic of Computable Functions, probably the first theoretically based yet practical tool for [[automated theorem proving|machine assisted proof construction]]; 2) [[ML programming language|ML]], the first language to include polymorphic [[type inference]] together with a [[type safety|type-safe]] [[exception handling|exception-handling]] mechanism; 3) [[calculus of communicating systems|CCS]], a general theory of [[concurrency (computer science)|concurrency]]. In addition, he formulated and strongly advanced [[full abstraction]], the study of the relationship between [[operational semantics|operational]] and [[denotational semantics|denotational]] [[semantics]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Milner | first = R. | doi = 10.1145/151233.151240 | title = Elements of interaction: Turing award lecture | journal = Communications of the ACM | volume = 36 | pages = 78–89 | date = 1993 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

|-
| 1963
| [[Marvin Minsky|Minsky, Marvin]]
| Co-founder of [[MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|Artificial Intelligence Lab]] at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], author of several texts on AI and philosophy. Critic of the [[perceptron]].
<!--
|-
| 2007

| [[Nick McKeown]], Scott Shenkar, Martin Casado
| Created [[Software Defined Networking]] 
-->

|-
| 1968
| [[Charles H. Moore|Moore, Charles H.]]
| Inventor of the [[Forth_(programming_language)|Forth]] programming language.

|-
| 2008
| [[Satoshi Nakamoto|Nakamoto, Satoshi]]
| The [[Anonymity|anonymous]] creator or creators of [[Bitcoin]], the first peer-to-peer [[digital currency]]. Nakamoto's 2008 white-paper introduced the concept of the [[blockchain]], a database structure that allows full trust in the [[decentralized]] and distributed public transaction ledger of the cryptocurrency.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf|title="Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" (PDF)|first=Satoshi|last=Nakamoto|date=24 May 2009|work=bitcoin.org}}</ref>

|-
| 1934, 1938
| [[Akira Nakashima|Nakashima Akira]]
| [[NEC]] engineer introduced [[switching circuit theory]] in papers from 1934 to 1936, laying the foundations for [[digital circuit]] design, in [[digital computer]]s and other areas of modern technology.

|-
| 1960
| [[Peter Naur|Naur, Peter]]
| Edited the [[ALGOL 60]] Revised Report, introducing [[Backus-Naur form]]

|-
| 1945
| [[John von Neumann|Neumann, John von]]
| Formulated the [[von Neumann architecture]] upon which most modern computers are based.

|-
| 1956
| [[Allen Newell|Newell, Allen]]
| Together with [[J. C. Shaw]]<ref>[https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_memoranda/RM5654.html Fred Joseph Gruenberger, ''The History of the JOHNNIAC'', RAND Memorandum 5654]</ref> and Herbert Simon, the three co-wrote the Logic Theorist, the first true AI program, in the first list-processing language, which influenced LISP.

|-
|1943
| [[Max Newman|Newman, Max]]
| Instigated the production of the [[Colossus computer]]s at [[Bletchley Park]]. After the second world war he established the [[Computing Machine Laboratory]] at the [[University of Manchester]] where he created the project that built the world's first [[stored-program computer]], the [[Manchester Baby]].

|-
| 1962
| [[Kristen Nygaard|Nygaard, Kristen]]
| With [[Ole-Johan Dahl]], invented the proto-object oriented language [[SIMULA]].

|-
| 1642
| [[Blaise Pascal|Pascal, Blaise]]
| Invented the [[mechanical calculator]].

|-
| 5th century BCE
| [[Pāṇini]]
| Invented first formal [[Grammar]]. Also gave early forms of [[Backus-Naur form]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kak |first1=Subhash C. |title=The Paninian approach to natural language processing |journal=International Journal of Approximate Reasoning |date=January 1987 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=117–130 |doi=10.1016/0888-613X(87)90007-7 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

|-
|2017
|[[David Patterson (computer scientist)|Patterson, David]]
|For pioneering a systematic, quantitative approach to the design and evaluation of computer architectures with enduring impact on the microprocessor industry.

|-
| 2011
| [[Judea Pearl|Pearl, Judea]]
| Fundamental contributions to artificial intelligence through the development of a calculus for probabilistic and causal reasoning.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/pearl_2658896.cfm |title=Judea Pearl |publisher=ACM }}</ref>

|-
| 1952
| [[Alan Perlis|Perlis, Alan]]
| On [[Project Whirlwind]], member of the team that developed the [[ALGOL programming language]], and the first recipient of the Turing Award

|-
| 1985
| [[Radia Perlman|Perlman, Radia]]
| Invented the [[Spanning Tree Protocol]] (STP), which is fundamental to the operation of [[network bridge]]s, while working for [[Digital Equipment Corporation]]. Has done extensive and innovative research, particularly on encryption and networking. She received the USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, among numerous others.

|-
| 1964
| [[Pier Giorgio Perotto|Perotto, Pier Giorgio]]{{undue weight inline|reason=unclear achievements merit inclusion. Definitely notable in an Italian context, globally unclear. Note there are several claims of "firstness" regarding PC models|date=October 2017}}
| Computer designer for [[Olivetti]], designed one of the first electronic [[programmable calculator]]s, the [[Programma 101]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/c-programma101.html|title=Olivetti Programma 101 Electronic Calculator|website=The Old Calculator Web Museum|quote=technically, the machine was a programmable calculator, not a computer.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
 | title= 2008/107/1 Computer, Programma 101, and documents (3), plastic / metal / paper / electronic components, hardware architect Pier Giorgio Perotto, designed by Mario Bellini, made by Olivetti, Italy, 1965–1971
 | website= www.powerhousemuseum.com
 | language= en
 | url= http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=378406
 | access-date= 2016-03-20
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/c-programma101.html|title=Olivetti Programma 101 Electronic Calculator|website=The Old Calculator Web Museum|quote=It appears that the Mathatronics Mathatron calculator {{sic|prec|eeded|nolink=y}} the Programma 101 to market.}}</ref>

|-
| 1932
| [[Rózsa Péter|Péter, Rózsa]]
| Published a series of papers grounding [[recursion theory]] as a separate area of mathematical research, setting the foundation for theoretical computer science.

|-
| 1995
| [[Rosalind Picard|Picard, Rosalind]] {{undue weight inline|reason=unclear her achievements merit inclusion. She has some awards, and a notable academic career, but inclusion here is perhaps a stretch|date=October 2017}}
| Founded [[Affective Computing]], and laid the foundations for giving computers skills of emotional intelligence.

|-
|1996
| [[Amir Pnueli|Pnueli, Amir]]
|Introducing [[temporal logic]] into computing science and for outstanding contributions to program and systems [[formal verification|verification]].<ref name="Pnueli">{{cite web |title = A.M. Turing Award Laureate – Amir Pnueli |website=amturing.acm.org |url = https://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/pnueli_4725172.cfm |access-date=4 November 2018 }}</ref>

|-
| 1936
| [[Emil Leon Post|Post, Emil L.]]
| Developed the [[Post–Turing machine|Post machine]] as a model of computation, independently of Turing. Known also for developing [[truth tables]], the [[Post correspondence problem]] used in recursion theory as well as proving what is known as [[Post's theorem]].

|-
|1976
| [[Michael O. Rabin|Rabin, Michael O.]]
|The joint paper "Finite Automata and Their Decision Problems",<ref name="semanticscholar.org">{{Cite journal | last1 = Rabin | first1 = M. O. | last2 = Scott | first2 = D. | doi = 10.1147/rd.32.0114 | title = Finite Automata and Their Decision Problems | journal = IBM Journal of Research and Development | volume = 3 | issue = 2 | pages = 114 | date = 1959 | s2cid = 3160330 }}</ref> which introduced the idea of [[nondeterministic machine]]s, which has proved to be an enormously valuable concept. Their (Scott & Rabin) classic paper has been a continuous source of inspiration for subsequent work in this field.<ref name="Rabin 1977 625–633">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1145/359810.359816 | title = Complexity of computations | journal = Communications of the ACM | volume = 20| issue = 9 | pages = 625–633 | date = 1977 | last = Rabin | first = M. O. | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Scott 1977 634–641">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1145/359810.359826 | title = Logic and programming languages | journal = Communications of the ACM| volume = 20| issue = 9 | pages = 634–641| date = 1977| last = Scott | first = D. S. | doi-access = free }}</ref>

|-
|1994
| [[Raj Reddy|Reddy, Raj]]
|Pioneering the design and construction of large scale artificial intelligence systems, demonstrating the practical importance and potential commercial impact of artificial intelligence technology.<ref name="To dream the possible dream"/>

|-
| 1967–2011
| [[Dennis Ritchie|Ritchie, Dennis]]
| With [[Ken Thompson]], pioneered the [[C (programming language)|C programming language]] and the [[Unix]] computer operating system at Bell Labs.

|-
|1977
| [[Ron Rivest|Rivest, Ron]]
|[[RSA (algorithm)|Ingenious contribution]] and making [[public-key cryptography]] useful in practice.

|-
| 1958–1960
| [[Saul Rosen|Rosen, Saul]]
| Designed the software of the first transistor-based computer. Also influenced the ALGOL programming language.

|-
| 1975, 1985
| [[Philip Rubin|Rubin, Philip]]
| Developed pioneering computational [[speech synthesis]] systems for use in the experimental study of speech perception and production, including [[articulatory synthesis]] and [[sinewave synthesis]]. Also designed the [[HADES (software)|HADES]] signal processing system, a predecessor of [[MATLAB]].

|-
| 1910
| [[Bertrand Russell|Russell, Bertrand]]
| Made contributions to computer science with his work on [[mathematical logic]] (example: [[truth function]]). Introduced the notion of [[type theory]]. He also introduced [[type system]] (along with [[Alfred North Whitehead]]) in his work, [[Principia Mathematica]].

|-
| 1975
| [[Gerard Salton|Salton, Gerard]]{{undue weight inline|reason=unclear achievements merit inclusion. Has some awards, and a notable academic career, but inclusion here is perhaps a stretch|date=October 2017}} 
| A pioneer of automatic [[information retrieval]], who proposed the [[vector space model]] and the [[inverted index]].

|-
| 1962
| [[Jean E. Sammet|Sammet, Jean E.]] 
| Developed the [[FORMAC programming language]]. She was also the first to write extensively about the history and categorization of programming languages in 1969, and became the first female president of the [[Association for Computing Machinery]] in 1974.

|-
| 1880, 1898
| [[Charles Sanders Peirce|Sanders Peirce, Charles]]
| Proved the [[functional completeness]] of the [[NOR gate]]. Proposed the implementation of logic via electrical circuits, decades before [[Claude Shannon]]. Extended Aristotelian logic with [[first-order predicate calculus]], independently of [[Gottlob Frege]], a crucial precursor in [[computability theory]]. Also relevant to early work on [[artificial intelligence]], [[logic programming]].

|-
|1976
| [[Dana Scott|Scott, Dana]]
|The joint paper "Finite Automata and Their Decision Problems",<ref name="semanticscholar.org"/> which introduced the idea of [[nondeterministic machine]]s, which has proved to be an enormously valuable concept. Their (Scott & Rabin) classic paper has been a continuous source of inspiration for subsequent work in this field.<ref name="Rabin 1977 625–633"/><ref name="Scott 1977 634–641"/>

|-
|1977
| [[Adi Shamir|Shamir, Adi]]
|[[RSA (algorithm)|Ingenious contribution]] and making [[public-key cryptography]] useful in practice.

|-
| 1937, 1948
| [[Claude E. Shannon|Shannon, Claude]]
| Founded [[information theory]], and laid foundations for practical digital circuit design.

|-
| 1971
| [[Masatoshi Shima|Shima Masatoshi]]
| Designed the [[Intel 4004]], the first commercial [[microprocessor]],<ref name="tout1">{{cite web|url=http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/busicom_141-pf_and_intel_4004.html|title=The Busicom 141-PF calculator and the Intel 4004 microprocessor|author=Nigel Tout|access-date=2009-11-15}}</ref><ref name="ieee">[[Federico Faggin]], [https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=4776530 The Making of the First Microprocessor], ''IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine'', Winter 2009, [[IEEE Xplore]]</ref> as well as the [[Intel 8080]], [[Zilog Z80]] and [[Zilog Z8000]] microprocessors, and the [[Intel 8259]], [[8255]], [[8253]], [[Intel 8257|8257]] and [[8251]] chips.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://museum.ipsj.or.jp/en/pioneer/shima.html|title=Shima Masatoshi-Computer Museum|first=Information Processing Society of|last=Japan|website=museum.ipsj.or.jp|access-date=25 October 2017}}</ref>

|-
| 2007
| [[Joseph Sifakis|Sifakis, Joseph]]
|  Developing [[model checking]] into a highly effective verification technology, widely adopted in the hardware and software industries.<ref>[http://www.ddj.com/206103622 2007 Turing Award Winners Announced]</ref>

|-
| 1956, 1957
| [[Herbert A. Simon|Simon, Herbert A.]]
| A political scientist and economist who pioneered [[artificial intelligence]].  Co-creator of the [[Logic Theory Machine]] and the [[General Problem Solver]] programs.

|-
| 1953
| [[Karen Spärck Jones|Spärck Jones, Karen]] {{undue weight inline|reason=unclear her achievements merit inclusion. She has some awards, and a notable academic career, but inclusion here is perhaps a stretch|date=October 2017}} 
| One of the pioneers of [[information retrieval]] and [[natural language processing]].

|-
| 1972
| [[Richard Stallman|Stallman, Richard]]
| Stallman launched the [[GNU Project]] in September 1983 to create a Unix-like computer operating system composed entirely of free software. With this, he also launched the [[free software movement]].

|-
| 1993
| [[Richard E. Stearns|Stearns, Richard E.]]
|Foundations for the field of [[computational complexity theory]].<ref name="Stearns 1994 95–99"/>

|-
| 1981
| [[Alexander Stepanov|Stepanov, Alexander]]
| Stepanov is one of the pioneers when it comes to [[Generic Programming]] and he is also the primary designer and implementer of the [[C++]] [[Standard Template Library]].

|-
| 1937, 1941<!-- more -->
| [[George Robert Stibitz|Stibitz, George R.]]
| Father of modern digital computing and [[remote job entry]]. Coined the term "digital". Discovered the reflected binary code known as [[Gray code]]. Excess-3 code is named after him as well ([[Stibitz code]]).

|-
| 1982
| [[Michael Stonebraker|Stonebraker, Michael]]
| Revolutionized the field of database management systems (DBMSs) and founded multiple successful database companies

|-
| 1979
| [[Bjarne Stroustrup|Stroustrup, Bjarne]]
| Invented [[C++]] at Bell Labs

|-
| 1963
| [[Ivan Sutherland|Sutherland, Ivan]]
| Author of [[Sketchpad]], the ancestor of modern computer-aided drafting (CAD) programs and one of the early examples of [[object-oriented programming]].

|-
|1986
| [[Robert Tarjan|Tarjan, Robert]]
|Fundamental achievements in the design and analysis of algorithms and data structures.

|-
| 1973
| [[Charles P. Thacker|Thacker, Charles P.]]
|  Pioneering design and realization of the [[Xerox Alto]], the first modern personal computer, and in addition for his contributions to the Ethernet and the Tablet PC.

|-
| 1972, 1973
| [[André Truong Trong Thi|Thi, André Truong Trong]] and [[François Gernelle]]{{undue weight inline|reason=unclear achievements merit inclusion. Definitely notable in a French context, globally unclear.|date=October 2017}}
| Invention of the [[Micral|Micral N]], the earliest commercial, non-kit personal computer based on a [[microprocessor]].

|-
| 1967
| [[Ken Thompson|Thompson, Ken]]
| Created the [[Unix]] operating system, the [[B programming language]], [[Plan 9 from Bell Labs|Plan 9]] operating system, the first machine to achieve a Master rating in chess, and the [[UTF-8]] encoding at Bell Labs and the [[Go programming language]] at Google.

|-
| 1993
| [[Chai Keong Toh|Toh, Chai Keong]]
| Created mobile ad hoc networking; Implemented the first working wireless ad hoc network of laptop computers in 1998 using Linux OS, Lucent WaveLan 802.11 radios, and a new distributed routing protocol transparent to TCP/UDP/IP.

|-
| 1912, 1914
| [[Leonardo Torres Quevedo|Torres Quevedo, Leonardo]]
| In 1912, Leonardo Torres Quevedo built [[El Ajedrecista]] (''the chess player''), one of the first autonomous machines capable of playing chess. As opposed to the human-operated [[Mechanical Turk|The Turk]] and [[Ajeeb]], El Ajedrecista was a true automaton built to play chess without human guidance. It played an endgame with three chess pieces, automatically moving a white king and a rook to checkmate the black king moved by a human opponent. In his work ''Essays on Automatics'', published in 1914, Torres Quevedo formulates what will be a new branch of engineering: [[automation]] and designed an electromechanical version of Babbage's Analytical engine which introduced [[floating-point arithmetic]].

|-
| 1991
| [[Linus Torvalds|Torvalds, Linus]]
| Created the first version of the [[Linux kernel]].

|-
| 1965
| [[John W. Tukey|Tukey, John W.]]
| With [[James Cooley]], created the [[Cooley-Tukey FFT algorithm|fast Fourier transform]]. He invented the term "bit".<ref>{{cite journal | title = Bell System Technical Journal | author = Claude Shannon | journal = Bell System Technical Journal |date=1948 }}</ref>

|-
| 1936
| [[Alan Turing|Turing, Alan]]
| Made several fundamental contributions to theoretical computer science, including the [[Turing machine]] computational model, the conceiving of the stored program concept and the designing of the high-speed [[Automatic Computing Engine|ACE]] design. Independently of [[Alonzo Church]], he formulated the [[Church-Turing thesis]] and proved that [[first-order logic]] is [[Entscheidungsproblem|undecidable]]. He also explored the philosophical issues concerning [[Artificial Intelligence|artificial intelligence]], proposing what is now known as [[Turing test]].

|-
| 2010
| [[Leslie Valiant|Valiant, Leslie]]
|  Transformative contributions to the [[theory of computation]], including the theory of probably approximately correct ([[Probably approximately correct learning|PAC]]) learning, the complexity of enumeration and of algebraic computation, and the theory of parallel and distributed computing.

|-
| 1875, 1875
| [[Ramón Verea|Verea, Ramón]]
| Designed and patented the [[Verea Direct Multiplier]], the first mechanical direct multiplier.

|-
| 1950~
| [[An Wang|Wang An]]
| Made key contributions to the development of [[magnetic core]] memory.

|-
| 1955, 1960s, 1974
| [[Willis Ware|Ware, Willis]]
| Co-designer of [[JOHNNIAC]].  Chaired committee that developed the [[FTC Fair Information Practice|Code of Fair Information Practice]] and led to the [[Privacy Act of 1974]].  Vice-chair of the Privacy Protection Study Commission.

|-
| 1964, 1966
| [[Joseph Weizenbaum|Weizenbaum, Joseph]]
| One of the fathers of modern [[artificial intelligence]]. Creator of the [[ELIZA]] program using [[natural language processing]] to emulate conversations with a [[psychologist]].

|-
| 1968
| [[Adriaan van Wijngaarden|Wijngaarden, Adriaan van]]
| Developer of the [[W-grammar]] first used in the definition of [[ALGOL 68]]

|-
| 1949
| [[Maurice Wilkes|Wilkes, Maurice]]
| Built the first practical [[stored program]] computer ([[EDSAC]]) to be completed and for being credited with the ideas of several high-level programming language constructs.

|-
|1970
| [[James H. Wilkinson|Wilkinson, James H.]]
|Research in [[numerical analysis]] to facilitate the use of the high-speed digital computer, having received special recognition for his work in computations in [[linear algebra]] and "backward" error analysis.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1145/321637.321638 | title = Some Comments from a Numerical Analyst | journal = Journal of the ACM | volume = 18 | issue = 2 | pages = 137–147 | date = 1971 | last = Wilkinson | first = J. H.| s2cid = 37748083 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

|-
| 1970, 1978
| [[Niklaus Wirth|Wirth, Niklaus]]
| Designed the [[Pascal programming language|Pascal]], [[Modula-2]] and [[Oberon (programming language)|Oberon]] programming languages.

|-
|2000
| [[Andrew Yao|Yao, Andrew]]
|Fundamental contributions to the [[theory of computation]], including the complexity-based theory of [[pseudorandom number generator|pseudorandom number generation]], [[cryptography]], and [[communication complexity]].

|-
| 1955–1958
| [[Heinz Zemanek|Zemanek, Heinz]]
| Developed an early fully transistorized computer, the [[Mailüfterl]]. Crucial in the creation of the formal definition of the programming language [[PL/I]].

|-
| 1938, 1945
| [[Konrad Zuse|Zuse, Konrad]]
| Built the first digital freely programmable computer, the [[Z1 (computer)|Z1]]. Built the first functional program-controlled computer, the [[Z3 (computer)|Z3]] in 1941.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/computing-history/|title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|first=B. Jack|last=Copeland|editor-first=Edward N.|editor-last=Zalta|date=25 October 2017|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=25 October 2017|via=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref>  The Z3 already used what later became known as [[Reverse Polish Notation]], and it was proven to be Turing-complete in 1998. Produced the world's first commercial computer, the [[Z4 (computer)|Z4]]. Designed the first high-level programming language, [[Plankalkül]].
|}

~ Items marked with a tilde are circa dates.

==See also==
{{portal|Biography|Lists}}
* [[Computer Pioneer Award]]
* [[IEEE John von Neumann Medal]]
* [[Grace Murray Hopper Award]]
* [[History of computing]]
** [[History of computing hardware]]
** [[History of computing hardware (1960s–present)]]
**[[History of software]]
* [[List of computer science awards]]
* [[List of computer scientists]]
* [[List of Internet pioneers]]
* [[List of people considered father or mother of a field#Computing|List of people considered father or mother of a field § Computing]]
* ''[[The Man Who Invented the Computer]]'' (2010 book)
* [[List of Russian IT developers]]
* [[List of Women in Technology International Hall of Fame inductees]]
* [[Timeline of computing]]
* [[Turing Award]]
* [[Women in computing]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite journal
|last = Hamming
|first = Richard W.
|mr = 0035935
|journal = [[Bell System Technical Journal]]
|pages = 147–160
|title = Error detecting and error correcting codes
|url = http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/~bushnell/dsdwebsite/hamming.pdf
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060525060427/http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/~bushnell/dsdwebsite/hamming.pdf
|archive-date = May 25, 2006
|volume = 29
|issue = 2
|date = 1950
|doi=10.1002/j.1538-7305.1950.tb00463.x
|s2cid = 61141773
}}
* {{cite book
|last1=Ling
|first1=San
|first2=Chaoping
|last2=Xing
|date=2004
|title=Coding Theory: a First Course
|location=Cambridge
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|isbn= 978-0-521-82191-9
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Pless
|first=Vera
|author-link=Vera Pless
|date=1982
|title= Introduction to the Theory of Error-Correcting Codes
|title-link= Introduction to the Theory of Error-Correcting Codes
|location=New York
|publisher=Wiley
|isbn=978-0-471-08684-0
}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Morgan
|first=Samuel P.
|title=Richard Wesley Hamming (1915–1998)
|journal=Notices of the AMS
|date=September 1998
|volume=45
|issue=8
|pages=972–977
|issn=0002-9920
|url=https://www.ams.org/notices/199808/mem-morgan.pdf
|access-date=2014-08-30
}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/ Internet pioneers]

{{Basic computer components}}
{{Mainframes}}

[[Category:Lists of computer scientists|Pioneers]]
[[Category:Science pioneers|Computer, List]]