IIT Computer Science Hall of Fame
IIT helped create the field called computer science through trailblazing work in magnetic recording technology. On this page we celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of engineers and computer scientists from IIT before the founding of the Department of Computer Science. See our companion page for prominent graduates of the department.
Marvin Camras
B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering, 1940, 1942
A recipient of the National Medal of Technology, Marvin Camras was awarded the first U.S. patent for using magnetic coatings to record data, the technology used in magnetic tape and disk drives.
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Herbert Simon
With interests not only in computer science but also psychology, economics, and the philosophy of science, Herb Simon taught political science at IIT in the mid-1940s. He later co-founded the Department of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University and received a Turing Award for his seminal work in artificial intelligence.
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Martin Cooper
B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering, 1950, 1957
In addition to developing the world's first cellular phone, Martin Cooper created IMTS, high-capacity paging, and trunked land-mobile systems. Currently, he is the executive chairman and co-founder of ArrayComm Inc., the leading provider of smart antenna technology.
Robert Floyd
Turing Award-winner Robert Floyd taught himself how to operate and program computers when he worked for IIT's Armour Research Foundation in the mid-1950s. He went on to Stanford University and pioneered research in program verification and language semantics.
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Watts S. Humphrey
M.S. in Physics, 1950
A recipient of the National Medal of Technology, Watts Humphrey directed the Software Engineering Institute during its development of the Capability Maturity Model.
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