Samuel Nathan Alexander

Education

Alexander studied at the University of Oklahoma, earning a Bachelor"s degree in 1931 and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master"s degree in 1933.

Career

After that, he was an engineer in the laboratory of Simplex, Wire and Cable Company, worked in the electronic instrument development for the United States. Navy and was Senior Project Engineer at the Bendix Aviation Corporation. In 1946 he went to the National Bureau of Standards, where he became head of the Laboratory of electronic computer until 1954, when he became head of the data processing department. From 1964 to his death in 1967 he headed the Department of Information Technology.

At the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, he developed the SEAC computer (Standards Eastern Automatic Computer).

At first this was named National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Interim Computer. lieutenant was one of many computers built at that time along the lines of John von Neumann"s design in universities, laboratories and government organizations, but were only intended as an interim solution until the industry could provide better computer.

In this case, they were waiting for a computer by Universal Automatic Computer (Alexander was also involved in its design), whose delivery had been delayed. Alexander’s Chief Architect was Ralph J. Slutz (1917-2005) who previously worked with John von Neumann to build a computer at the Institute for Advanced Study.

The SEAC was the first fully functional electronic computer with internal program memory (stored program) in the United States. it also was the first computer with semiconductor logic (first 10,500, then 16,000 germanium diodes), in addition to the 747 and later 1600 vacuum tubes.

The computer operated for 14 years and was originally intended for training purposes within government agencies, but some of the earliest assemblers and compilers were built for lieutenant lieutenant was the fastest fully functional computer for about a year until the Universal Automatic Computer I came out in 1951. lieutenant also served as a model for other government computers e.g. with the National Security Agency.

Alexander also initiated the prototype DYSEAC at the NBS, a successor to the SEAC, which was built for the United States Signal Corps.

lieutenant was delivered in 1954 and could be transported in a truck. He was an advisor to the United States government and, in 1956 to Sweden and, in 1957, India.

Achievements

• In 1967 he received the Harry H. Goode Memorial Award and the 1981 Computer Pioneer Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society.

Membership

He was a member of the Washington Academy of Sciences.

Connections

Father:

Max Alexander

Mother:

Minnie (Smith) Alexander

Spouse:

Eleanor Frances Magazine

child:

Diane Ellen Alexander (Mistress Raul Zaritsky)

child:

Harriet Phyllis Alexander (Mistress Paul Lebowitz)

child:

Michael Norman Alexander