Abstract
The first period of computing at Georgia Tech (1947–1978) was one of slowly increasing use of computers for instrumental use and the start of academic computing, specifically in information science and eventually computer science. As forward-looking, research-grounded, and appropriate as the initial focus of the school under Slamecka was, it was missing a critical component—strength in computer science—the keystone of all computing-related topics.
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.
—Henry Ford
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Notes
- 1.
I differentiated between instrumental and academic computing in Chapter 1 to separate use of computers as an instrument (tool) from the academic activity of studying and teaching about computers (and their use) qua computers (and their use).
- 2.
McMath, et al., op.cit in Chapter 2 Footnotes.
- 3.
“PDP-8,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDP-8, accessed 11/3/2022.
- 4.
“In Memoriam: Ray E. ‘Ray’ Miller, 1928–2019, Lawrence M. Fisher, Communications of the ACM, June 7, 2019, accessed 11/3/2022; “Over 50 years in computing,” op. cit. in Chapter 2 Footnotes.
- 5.
There is an interesting parallel in this story to my own experience coming to Georgia Tech 10 years later, effectively as Miller’s successor. The conditions that caused President Crecine to make me an Acting VP of Information Technology in 1991 in addition to my day job as Dean of Computing were different, but the software development situation in the Rich Computer Center in 1991 was eerily similar. I had known Ray Miller since the late 1960’s but had not been in close touch with him when he was Director of ICS. Had I known how he handled a situation very similar to what I found, the outcome of the project I inherited in 1991 might have been better!
- 6.
Albert Badre and Ben Shneiderman. Directions in human/computer interaction, ABLEX Publishing Corporation, 355 Chestnut St, Norwood, NJ 07648,1982.
- 7.
A few years ago when I chaired an advisory board at George Mason University, where he was president at the time, he told me that his favorite places as a student was in the CoC labs of Kolodner, Ashwin Ram, and GVU. This was in line with the earlier vision of Slamecka of broad and interdisciplinary leadership on campus, as well as providing an excellent complement to the more technical aspects of ICS.
- 8.
Changing leadership of a group fairly often is a frequent protocol in large organizations to expose rising employees to different aspects of the business, as well as for the vitality of the organization being managed. I received similar advice of ‘Don’t stay for more than 5–6 years’ from one of my mentors, the late Erich Bloch (1925–2016) as I started at Georgia Tech in 1990. I suspect that Miller also had learned that important lesson from his time at IBM, known for its management training.
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Freeman, P.A. (2024). Adding the Keystone (1978–1987). In: Vision and Actualization in Academia. History of Computing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43930-8_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43930-8_3
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