Father Of Electronic Digital Computer: Atanasoff Dies 
     Age 91


John Vincent Atanasoff, the father of the electronic digital 
computer, died June 15 at his home near New Market, Md., 
after an extended illness. He was 91 years old.

Atanasoff was a faculty member of Iowa State College in the 
1930s when he and engineering graduate student Clifford Berry 
invented the Atanasoff-Berry Computer.

"John Atanasoff did the same thing for computing that the 
Wright brothers did for aviation," said Ames Laboratory 
computa-tional scientist John Gustafson. "He was the first to 
apply electronics to computing. He was the first to invent 
digital storage, or 'computer memory' as we now know it. The 
Atanasoff-Berry Computer was not just the first electronic 
digital computer; it was the first parallel electronic 
digital computer. In this respect, Atanasoff was about 50 
years ahead of his time." 

Recognition for his extraordinary achievement eluded 
Atanasoff for nearly three decades. It was not until 1973 
that a federal judge ruled in a patent infringement lawsuit 
that Atanasoff's research was the source for most of the 
ideas for the modern computer.

"It's important to remember what Dr. Atanasoff did, he did as 
a teacher and educator," said President Martin Jischke. "He 
developed the computer as a tool to help his graduate 
students at Iowa State. Our campus-wide computing network is 
named 'Project Vincent' in his honor."

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contact:  University Relations, (515) 294-3129
updated:  9-28-95