Early Days of Computing at Georgia Tech (1947–1978)

The origin of the academic study of information and computing at Georgia Tech is a story of intuitive visions and the hard work of actualizing them. This included fortunate hires and timing, good responses to changing conditions, a spirit of innovation, and, of course, lots of hard, routine work. The visions were held by multiple people, a creative, productive faculty that formed a mini think-tank in the early years, a World War II refugee with an eclectic education, a librarian who knew nothing about computers, and a WW II research director with amazing foresight. Georgia Tech benefited from its location, three strategic and forward-looking leaders in this period, early benign neglect of computing by most of the campus, and a rich technological environment from which a world-class academic unit eventually grew.