John Paul Morrison

Who is John Paul Morrison?

John Paul Rodker Morrison is a British-born Canadian computer programmer, and the inventor of flow-based programming. He is the author of the book Flow-Based Programming: A New Approach to Application Development, now in its 2nd edition .

Morrison is the son of the writer, translator and editor, John Rodker and Barbara McKenzie-Smith, an artist. Born John Paul Rodker, his name was changed by deed poll after his parents divorced, and his mother married Edward A. Morrison III, an American citizen. Paul Morrison was educated at The Dragon School, Eton College, and King's College, Cambridge where he gained an M.A. in Anthropology and Archaeology, specializing in social anthropology.

He joined IBM UK in January 1959, as an EDPM Representative. Five years later, he moved to the US, and then to Montréal, Québec, Canada. While in Montréal, he started developing the ideas which led eventually to flow-based programming, whose concepts are now being picked up by major companies and computing practitioners world-wide. He retired from IBM Canada in 1992, and still works as a contractor and consultant, promoting the concepts of FBP, and currently lives in historic Unionville, Ontario.