Jules I. Schwartz (June 26, 1927 – June 6, 2013) was an American
computer scientist
A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science.
Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (a ...
chiefly known for his creation of the
JOVIAL
JOVIAL is a high-level programming language based on ALGOL 58, specialized for developing embedded systems (specialized computer systems designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions, usually embedded as part of a larger, more complete dev ...
programming language.
He served in the
United States Army in both
World War II and the
Korean War. He attended graduate school at
Columbia University, where he received a
Master of Arts in Mathematics in 1961. At Columbia Schwartz became acquainted with some early computers at the
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York. In 1954 he joined
RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
where he developed
utility software for the
JOHNNIAC
The JOHNNIAC was an early computer built by the RAND Corporation (not Remington Rand, maker of the contemporaneous UNIVAC I computer) and based on the von Neumann architecture that had been pioneered on the IAS machine. It was named in honor of v ...
computer and worked on
PACT compiler for the
IBM 704. In 1955 he joined the
MIT Lincoln Laboratory to work on the
SAGE computer
The AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central, referred to as the Q7 for short, was a computerized command and control system for Cold War ground-controlled interception used in the USAF Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense network.
Th ...
.
Schwartz went with
System Development Corporation (SDC) when it was spun off from RAND in 1957.
At SDC he helped develop the JOVIAL programming language in 1959-1960 —the acronym standing for ''Jules Own Version of the International Algorithmic Language'', although Schwartz claimed this was originally a joke.
After this he worked on the
AN/FSQ-32
The AN/FSQ-32 SAGE Solid State Computer (AN/FSQ-7A before December 1958, colloq. "Q-32") was a planned military computer central for deployment to Super Combat Centers in nuclear bunkers and to some above-ground military installations. In 1958, ...
computer system and other projects, eventually becoming director of technology at SDC. In 1970 he began working at
Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) was an American multinational corporation that provided information technology (IT) services and professional services. On April 3, 2017, it merged with the Enterprise Services line of business of HP Ente ...
(CSC).
References
External links
Oral history interview with Jules I. Schwartz(1989).
Charles Babbage Institute
The IT History Society (ITHS) is an organization that supports the history and scholarship of information technology by encouraging, fostering, and facilitating archival and historical research. Formerly known as the Charles Babbage Foundation ...
, University of Minnesota.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Jules
1927 births
2013 deaths
American computer scientists
United States Army personnel of World War II
United States Army personnel of the Korean War
Columbia University alumni
RAND Corporation people
MIT Lincoln Laboratory people