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Memorial Tributes Volume 22 (2019) / Chapter Skim
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GENE M. AMDAHL
Pages 7-12

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From page 8...
... HILL SUBMITTED BY THE NAE HOME SECRETARY G ENE MYRON AMDAHL, known for seminal work on the design of mainframe computers, deft business and entrepreneurial leadership, and the eponymous Amdahl's law, died November 10, 2015, at the age of 92 in Palo Alto, California. He was born November 16, 1922, in Flandreau, South Dakota (about 50 miles from Sioux Falls)
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From page 9...
... He worked on simulation studies and machine design for character recognition, and was project engineer and chief designer for the IBM 704, initial planner for the IBM 709 and 7030, and manager of architecture for the hugely influential IBM System/360. The Computer History Museum has called the System/360 family of computers "a daring business and technical gamble that became one of the greatest success stories in the history of computing."1 Its architecture shaped the field for years to come, and even today IBM mainframes can still run some System/360 applications.
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From page 10...
... In 1987 he founded the computer systems company Andor International Ltd. He was the author or coauthor of many publications and patents -- on developments such as recognition of recorded intelligence, an analog-to-digital conversion device, message display and transmission system, stored logic computer, memory protection system, storage protection system, and the IBM System/360.
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From page 11...
... Wallace McDowell Award "for his contributions to the architecture and design of computer systems, and for his achievements in promoting advancements in the computer state of the art through business enterprise." In 1987 he received the ACM-IEEE Computer Society EckertMauchly Award, given for contributions to computer and digital systems architecture, and in 1989 the IEEE Computer Entrepreneur Award "in recognition of his entrepreneurial efforts in the development of a strong and competitive mainframe industry." In 1973 he was cited in Business Week and Fortune magazines as one of the "brightest new stars rising to challenge the computer giant – IBM." In 1979 he was elected a distinguished fellow of the British Computer Society in recognition of his work in computer design, and in 1998 he was named a fellow of the Computer History Museum "for his fundamental work in computer architecture and design, project management, and leadership." In 1991 the London Times included him in its list of "The 1,000 Makers of the 20th Century." Amdahl's personal life was shared with his wife Marian (née Quissell) , who also hailed from rural South Dakota; they married in 1946.
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