Howard George Willis Ware (August 31, 1920 – November 22, 2013), popularly known as Willis Howard Ware was an American computer pioneer who co-developed the IAS machine that laid down the blueprint of the modern day computer in the late 20th century. He was also a pioneer of privacy rights, social critic of technology policy, and a founder in the field of computer security.[2][3]
During World War II, Ware worked for the Hazeltine Corporation (1942–1946) on classified military projects.[1][additional citation(s) needed] After the war (1946–1951), he joined the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton to work with John von Neumann on building an early computer.[4][1] After completing his PhD there, he moved to North American Aviation (1951–1952),[1] helped to move the aviation industry from punch-card machines to early computers, and in 1952 began teaching a class in computing at the UCLA Extension Division;[1][5] it continued for 12 years.[citation needed] In 1952 he joined the RAND Corporation,[1] where he stayed until 1992.[citation needed] He was an early design engineer on the RAND JOHNNIAC computer.[6]
Ware influenced many aspects of computing including the initiation and direction of one of the first computing courses, at UCLA and authored some of the first textbooks in the field of computer security. In addition, he chaired several influential studies, including one in 1967 that produced a groundbreaking and transformational report to the Defense Science Board for ARPA (now DARPA) that was known thereafter as "the Ware report". The European Union's Data Protection Directive was strongly influenced by his research.[9]
Ware died at his home in Santa Monica, California in 2013.[10][11]
Professional activitiesedit
Ware was an active and influential member of many industry organizations including:
^Spafford, Gene. The Passing of A Pioneer Nov. 26, 2013
^ abRand Corporation. Willis Ware, Computer Pioneer, Helped Build Early Machines and Warned About Security Privacy at rand.org. Nov 27, 2013.
^J Markoff, Willis Ware, 93, engineer at dawn of computer age. NYT, December 3, 2013: page B17.
^Walden, David (July–September 2011). "Interviews: Willis H. Ware". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 33 (3): 67–73. doi:10.1109/MAHC.2011.60.
^ ab"Willis H. Ware (Interview)". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 33 (3): 67–73. July–September 2011. doi:10.1109/mahc.2011.60. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
^Ware, Willis (11 August 2003). "Oral History Interview with Willis Ware" (Interview). Interviewed by Jeffrey R. Yost. Minneapolis: Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
^"Bibliography of Willis H. Ware's RAND publications". Retrieved September 28, 2013.
^ abPfleeger, Charles P.; Pfleeger, Shari Lawrence; Margulies, Jonathan (2015). Security in Computing(PDF). Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-13-408504-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2020-12-19. Willis Ware kindly wrote the foreword that we published in both the third and fourth editions of Security in Computing. In his foreword he covers some of the early days of computer security, describing concerns that are as valid today as they were in those earlier days. ... Few people recognize Willis's name today; more people are familiar with the European Union Data Protection Directive that is a direct descendant of the [1973 report] from his committee for the U.S. Department of Human Services. Willis would have wanted it that way: the emphasis on the ideas and not on his name.
^"Willis Ware dies at 93; pioneer predicted the rise of the computer - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. 30 November 2013.
^Rich, Michael D. (28 March 2014). "Eulogy for Willis Ware". Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
^ ab"The Computer Museum History Center presents "Building Computers in 1953: JOHNNIAC"" (PDF).