August Dvorak (May 5, 1894 – October 9, 1975) was an American educational psychologist and professor of education at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. He and his brother-in-law, William Dealey, are best known for creating the

Dvorak keyboard layout Dvorak () is a keyboard layout for English patented in 1936 by August Dvorak and his brother-in-law, William Dealey, as a faster and more ergonomic alternative to the QWERTY layout (the ''de facto'' standard keyboard layout). Dvorak proponen ...

in the 1930s as a replacement for the

QWERTY QWERTY ( ) is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top letter row of the keyboard: . The QWERTY design is based on a layout included in the Sh ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

layout. While his name is pronounced , with the ''ř'' roughly as a simultaneous trilled and due to him being of Czech descent, Dvorak's family in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

pronounces it , with an English ''r.''

Keyboard development

In the 1940s, Dvorak designed keyboard layouts for people with the use of one hand. Dvorak and Dealey, together with Nellie Merrick and Gertrude Ford, wrote the book '' Typewriting Behavior'', published in 1936. The book is an in-depth report on the psychology and physiology of

typing Typing is the process of writing or inputting text by pressing keys on a typewriter, computer keyboard, mobile phone, or calculator. It can be distinguished from other means of text input, such as handwriting recognition, handwriting and speech ...

Military service

Dvorak served with the American Army Field Artillery during the punitive expedition against Pancho Villa and was wounded during the campaign. Afterward he was discharged and enlisted in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

, teaching mathematics and navigation until World War I, during which he served aboard the captured German privateer USS ''Callao'' bringing troops home until his discharge in 1919. Later, he was the captain of a ''Gato''-class submarine in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Life and family

Dr. August Dvorak died in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

on October 9, 1975.

References

External links

Photograph: August Dvorak and typing class at University of Washington, Seattle
(November 14, 1932)
Dvorak Keyboard ClaimsDvorak Keyboard MagazineDvorak keyboard layout, Spanish variant
1894 births 1975 deaths American people of Czech descent University of Washington faculty United States Navy officers United States submarine commanders People from Glencoe, Minnesota Military personnel from Minnesota {{educationist-stub