Bernard Galler

Who was Bernard Galler?

Bernard A. Galler was an American mathematician and computer scientist at the University of Michigan who was involved in the development of large-scale operating systems and computer languages including the MAD programming language and the Michigan Terminal System operating system.

He attended the University of Chicago where he earned a B.Sc. in mathematics at the University of Chicago, followed by a M.Sc. from UCLA and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, advised by Paul Halmos and Marshall Stone. He joined the mathematics department at the University of Michigan where he taught the first programming course using an IBM 704. Galler helped to develop the computer language called the Michigan Algorithm Decoder in use at several universities. He formed the Communication Sciences dept, renamed Computer Sciences, which became the Computer and Communications dept, and Computer Science Department in the 70s, from which he retired in 1994. His class developed the realtime course scheduling program called Computer Registration Involving Student Participation which allowed students to register for courses without waiting in long lines. The University used the CRISP application for over fifteen years.