The Fortran Standardization records consist of meeting documents, agendas and minutes. Three collections have been aggregated together as Martin, Meissner and Snyder gave their collected materials to CHM to document the ANSI/ ISO standardization process for Fortran. Some material had originally been collected by Frank Engel and John Reid.
Biographical/Historical Note
Fortran Standardization: By the early 1960s, many computer vendors had implemented a Fortran (from FORmula TRANSlation) compiler which included special features not found in the original IBM compiler. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) began a project of standardizing many aspects of data processing, including standardizing programming languages, so a committee was formed to develop a standard for Fortran. The first standard was adopted in 1966. The language continued to develop after 1966, along with general knowledge in the areas of programming, language design, and computer design. A new version-- Fortran 77-- was adopted in 1978 by ANSI. The International Standards Organization (ISO) began to mature in the computing language area and subsequently adopted Fortran 77 as an international standard. The next revision, Fortran 90, was an ISO standard first, and then adopted, word for word, as an ANSI standard. Fortran 95 is a minor revision to Fortran 90. Jeanne Martin was Convenor of ISO WG5 from 1982 until 1994, and she performed a leading role in the inclusion of International concerns during Fortran language development. Loren P. Meissner served for more than 20 years as a U.S. delegate to the international committee for Fortran language standardization. Meissner produced Fortran community newsletters from 1975 to 2015. Van Snyder has served as a delegate to and officer of the ANSI and ISO Fortran committees since 1997.
