Renowned UK computer pioneer Sir Maurice Wilkes dies aged 97

by Steven Mostyn - Dec 3 2010, 09:26

It’s a sad day of remembrance for the world of technology today following news that prominent British computer scientist Sir Maurice Wilkes has died at the age of 97.

Sir Maurice gained his place in the hallowed halls of modern computer history when, in 1949, he constructed EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator), the very first operational general-purpose digital computer.

Equipped with a doctorate on radio waves, Sir Maurice’s path into computing saw him joining the Mathematical Laboratory (now the Computer Laboratory) at Cambridge University in 1934 in order to help develop analogue computer technology.

After several years of progress, the resulting EDSAC computer—which was built specifically for university use—became something of a blueprint for the world’s first dedicated business computer, the Lyons Leo.

Widely respected within the field, Sir Maurice led the Cambridge Computer Laboratory until 1980, from where he shared his talents and vision between Digital Equipment Corp. in Massachusetts and Cambridge’s Olivetti Laboratory.

Eventually drawn back to Cambridge University, the computer pioneer returned to its Computer Laboratory as emeritus professor in 2002.

Knighted by the Queen back in 2000, Sir Maurice scooped a number of coveted industry prizes during his long and distinguished career.

Some of those acknowledgements included the Turing Award (1967), the Faraday Medal from the Institution of Electrical Engineers (1981), the Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology (1992), and the IEEE Computer Society’s 60th Anniversary Award for seminal contributions to the discipline of computing (2007).

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