Wes Graham
Person
1932 –
Who is Wes Graham?
Wes Graham was an influential Professor of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, with strong ties to industry. Graham was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, in July 1999, but succumbed to cancer before the formal award ceremony in September 1999.
Graham was one of the first Professors of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, joining the new institution in 1959. When Waterloo first made its Computing Centre a separate department, in 1962, he was its first director. In 1965, when James G. Mitchell, then an undergraduate student at Waterloo, wrote an academic paper on how to write a teaching compiler for Fortran, that could compile, link, and execute a typical undergraduate`s program in a single pass, Graham arranged for Mitchell and a small team, under his supervision, to write that compiler. The compiler was eventually known as WATFOR, and was eventually to be used by students at 420 Colleges and Universities around the world. WATFOR was followed by similar teaching compilers, like WATBOL, for teaching COBOL, and WATIAC for teaching the principles of assembly language programming.
Graham is credited with convincing leading computer manufacturers that it was in their interests to donate equipment to the University, because Waterloo students would then write valuable software for those computers that would make the manufacturers` products more valuable. A total of $35 million CAD in donated equipment is credited to Graham.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Wes Graham." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/biography/wes-graham/m/0p8w0y1>.
Discuss this Wes Graham biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In