Franz Alt

Franz Leopold Alt ( born November 30, 1910 in Vienna, † 21 July, 2011 New York City ) was an American mathematician of Austrian origin. He is considered one of the pioneers of computer science.

Biography

Franz Alt grew up in Vienna and received his PhD in 1932 in mathematics at the University of Vienna. His research included set-theoretic topology and logical foundations of geometry.

He left Austria after the "Anschluss " with Germany in 1938 and moved to the USA in order. As a talented skier, he served in World War II in the 10th U.S. Mountain Division and attained the rank of Second Lieutenant. After the war he worked on the ENIAC, a general purpose computer and one of the first computer at all, and at other computer projects of the U.S. Army. He then joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology, before he continued his career at the American Institute of Physics.

Alt is a founder of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM ), the first scientific society for computer science, which was established in 1947. From 1950 to 1952, he stood before her as president. He also wrote one of the first books on digital computers, Electronic Digital Computers ( Academic Press, 1958).

After his retirement in 1973, Old engaged in numerous peace and environmental initiatives. In 1994 he was appointed as a Fellow of the ACM.

Awards

On 8 May 2007 he received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class was presented by Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer.