Press Release

Four Computer Industry Pioneers to be Honored at the Computer History Museum's Fellow Awards Dinner & Ceremony

Mountain View, California  |  September 23, 2005

The Computer History Museum today announced its latest inductees as Fellows of the Museum. On Tuesday, October 18, industry pioneers Paul Baran, Douglas Engelbart, Alan Shugart and Ivan Sutherland will be officially inducted at the Museum's annual Fellow Awards Dinner & Ceremony to be held in the Museum's landmark Silicon Valley building at 1401 N. Shoreline Boulevard in Mountain View, Calif. Steve Westly, State of California Controller, and former eBay senior vice president executive, will serve as the evening's master of ceremonies.

In keeping with its mission to preserve and present for posterity the artifacts and the stories of the Information Age, the Computer History Museum Fellow Awards publicly recognize individuals of outstanding merit who have made significant, personal contributions to the development of computing. The Museum Fellow Awards tradition began in 1987 with its first Fellow, Grace Murray Hopper, who is widely known as coining the term "computer bug." Fellows are nominated by a panel composed of computer historians, Museum Fellows, their peers, staff and trustees.

In order to properly assess the historical importance of a prospective Fellows' contribution, at least 10 years must have elapsed between the time of the achievement and the nomination. The accomplishment must have strongly influenced the intellectual, disciplinary, or industrial underpinnings of computing.

"Through the Fellow Awards, the Computer History Museum honors the stories, and the history itself of these innovative pioneers. And, we ensure their legacies live on within the Museum's deep collection and its ongoing programs," said John Toole, executive director and CEO of the Computer History Museum. "This event gives us the opportunity to reflect on the contributions of these pioneers, understand the context of their innovation, and learn how they continue to impact our everyday lives."

2005 Fellow honorees include:

  • Paul Baran for fundamental contributions to the architecture of the Internet and for a lifetime of entrepreneurial activity
  • Douglas Engelbart for advancing the study of human-computer interaction, for developing the mouse input device, and for the application of computers to improving organizational efficiency.
  • Alan Shugart for his lifelong contributions to the creation of the modern disk drive industry
  • Ivan Sutherland for the Sketchpad computer-aided design system and for lifelong contributions to computer graphics and education

Four hundred guests, including Silicon Valley business leaders, entrepreneurs, technologists, and academics, are expected to attend this annual event. Individual tickets are $250 each and are required to attend.

Sponsors for the Fellow Awards Dinner & Ceremony include the event's Headline Sponsor, Seagate Technology, as well as 1185 Design, Network Appliance, Inc., San Jose Mercury News, Broadcom Corporation & the Frank-Ratchye Family Foundation, Bill and Roberta Campbell, Logitech, Inc., Google, SRI International and SwiftPartners, LLC. Fellow Awards event sponsorships remain available. Past sponsors have demonstrated their industry leadership by showing their support for the world's preeminent museum dedicated to computing history.

"We believe that it is important to honor the pioneers whose personal contributions made possible today's high-tech landscape. Seagate is proud to be the lead sponsor of the 2005 Computer History Museum Fellow Awards," said Bill Watkins, President and CEO, Seagate Technology. 

Proceeds support the preservation and educational missions of the Computer History Museum. For more information, please visit www.computerhistory.org or call 650.810.1010.

About the Computer History Museum

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, a public benefit organization, preserves and presents for posterity the artifacts and stories of the information age. The Museum is dedicated to exploring the social impact of computing and is home to the world's largest collection of computing-related items - from hardware (mainframes, PCs, handhelds, key integrated circuits), to software, to computer graphics systems, to Internet and networking - and contains many one-of-a-kind and rare objects such as the Cray-1 supercomputer, the Apple I, the WWII ENIGMA, the PalmPilot prototype, the 1969 Neiman Marcus (Honeywell) "Kitchen Computer" and the Minuteman I Guidance Computer. The collection also includes photos, films, videos, documents, and culturally-defining advertising and marketing materials. Currently in its first phase, the Museum brings computing history to life through its Speaker Series, seminars, oral histories and workshops. The Museum also offers tours of Visible Storage, where nearly 600 objects from the Collection are on display. Debuting September 2005 is a new exhibit, Mastering The Game: A History of Computer Chess. Future phases will feature full museum exhibits including a timeline of computing history, theme galleries, and much more. For more information, please visit www.computerhistory.org or call 650.810.1010.

Press Contacts:

PR Team
pr@computerhistory.org
(650) 810-1059

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