Login
Login

Elliot Koffman

{{short description|American computer scientist and educationist}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Elliot Bruce Koffman

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|05|07}}

| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = American

| other_names =

| known_for = Educational development and textbooks

| occupation = Computer scientist

}}

Elliot Bruce Koffman (born 7 May 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts){{cite web|url=http://www.cis.temple.edu/~koffman/vita.doc |title=Curriculum Vita |date=1 October 2000 |access-date=19 July 2011 |publisher=Temple University |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929105510/http://www.cis.temple.edu/~koffman/vita.doc |archive-date=29 September 2011 }} is a noted computer scientist and educationist. He is the author of numerous widely used introductory textbooks for more than 10 different programming languages, including Ada, BASIC, C, C++, FORTRAN, Java, Modula-2, and Pascal. Since 1974, he has been a professor of computer and information sciences at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Education and career

Koffman attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering degrees in 1964. He received his PhD in 1967 at Case Institute of Technology with a dissertation on learning games through pattern recognition.

That same year, Koffman began work at the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland as an electrical engineer. He was promoted to captain of the U.S. Army and assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. from 1967 to 1969.

Koffman also began his teaching career in 1967, serving as a professorial lecturer at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. (1967–1969); an Assistant Professor (1969–1972) and Associate Professor (1972–1974) in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Connecticut; and an Associate Professor (1974–1978) and Full Professor (1978–present) in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at Temple University.

Koffman's early research was in artificial intelligence and intelligent tutoring systems. In 1974 he began writing and co-authoring textbooks for introductory programming courses for computer science majors (CS1) in programming languages such as Ada, BASIC, C, C++, Fortran, Java, Modula-2, and Pascal. He also wrote textbooks for the first data structures course (CS2) in C++, Java, and Pascal.{{cite web |url=http://csc.villanova.edu/colloquia/view/648 |title=CSC Colloquium: Elliot Koffman |date=28 April 2008 |access-date=19 July 2011 |publisher=Villanova University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327215029/http://csc.villanova.edu/colloquia/view/648 |archive-date=27 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}

In 2009 he was awarded the SIGCSE Outstanding Contribution Award "for an extraordinary record of teaching, curriculum development, publishing papers as well as numerous textbooks, and for helping to shape Computer Science education".{{cite web |url=http://www.sigcse.org/programs/awards/outstanding |title=Outstanding Contribution Award |publisher=Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education |access-date=19 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603133901/http://www.sigcse.org/programs/awards/outstanding |archive-date=3 June 2013 }}

Other activities

Koffman chaired the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) task force to revise CS1 and CS2 courses from 1983 to 1985. He was also chairman of the ACM Special Interest Group in Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) from 1987 to 1991.

Family

Koffman married Caryn Jackson{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishexponent.com/images/Publications/oct202005/classified/8932.html |title=Death Notices: Jackson |work=The Jewish Exponent |date=20 October 2005 |access-date=19 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314015410/http://www.jewishexponent.com/images/Publications/oct202005/classified/8932.html |archive-date=14 March 2012 }} in 1963.{{cite web |url=http://www.temple.edu/cis/directory/tenure/documents/KoffmanSIGCSESlides.pdf |title=All I Really Need to Know I Learned in CS1 |last=Koffman |first=Elliot |page=8 |publisher=Temple University |access-date=2011-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012032624/http://www.temple.edu/cis/directory/tenure/documents/KoffmanSIGCSESlides.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-12 |url-status=dead }} She is a photographer whose work has won awards{{cite web |url=http://articles.philly.com/1994-11-13/news/25869817_1_fashion-show-feature-fashions-committee-members |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708083225/http://articles.philly.com/1994-11-13/news/25869817_1_fashion-show-feature-fashions-committee-members |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 8, 2012 |title=Luncheon And Fashion Show Raise $9,500 For Scholarships To Nurses |date=13 November 1994 |access-date=19 July 2011 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |last=Pinard Bogaert |first=Pauline}} and has been featured in a local gallery.{{cite web |url=http://articles.philly.com/1996-04-22/news/25661198_1_raku-art-posters-works |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606143516/http://articles.philly.com/1996-04-22/news/25661198_1_raku-art-posters-works |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 6, 2012 |title=Gallery Highlights Works Of 3 Women: The Artforms Exhibit Features Sculpture, Paintings And Photographs By The 3 Montco Artists |date=22 April 1996 |access-date=19 July 2011 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |last=Dove |first=Pheralyn}} They have three children, Richard, Deborah and Robin. They live in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

Bibliography

  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x62hNwAACAAJ&q=Elliot+koffman |title=Learning Through Pattern Recognition Applied to a Class of Games |year=1967 |publisher=Defense Technical Information Center}}
  • {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/problemsolvingst0000koff_j6m6 |url-access=registration |quote=Elliot koffman textbooks. |title=Problem solving and structured programming in BASIC |publisher=Addison-Wesley |year=1979 |isbn=0-201-03888-9}} (with Frank L. Friedman)
  • {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/pascalproblemsol00koff |url-access=registration |quote=Elliot koffman textbooks. |title=Pascal: A problem solving approach |year=1982 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn=0-201-10341-9}}
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLNQAAAAMAAJ&q=Elliot+koffman |title=Problem solving and structured programming in WATFIV |year=1982 |publisher=Addison-Wesley|isbn= 0-201-10482-2}} (with Frank L. Friedman)
  • {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/problemsolvingin0000koff |url-access=registration |quote=Elliot koffman textbooks. |title= Problem solving in structured BASIC-PLUS and VAX-11 BASIC |year=1984 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn= 0-201-10344-3}} (with Frank L. Friedman)
  • {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/problemsolvingst0002koff |url-access=registration |quote=Elliot koffman textbooks. |title=Problem solving and structured programming in Pascal |year=1985 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn= 0-201-11736-3}}
  • {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/problemsolvingst00koff |url-access=registration |quote=Elliot koffman textbooks. |title=Problem solving and structured programming in Modula-2 |year=1988 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn=0-201-07828-7}}
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H6m-QgAACAAJ&q=fortran+with+engineering+applications |title=Problem solving and structured programming in FORTRAN |year=1993 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |edition=5th |isbn=0-201-55875-0}} (with Frank L. Friedman)
  • {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/fortranwithengin00koff |url-access=registration |quote=fortran with engineering applications. |title=Fortran with engineering applications |year=1993 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn=0-201-54274-9}}
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xp1QAAAAMAAJ&q=Elliot+koffman+textbooks |year=1994 |title=Software design and data structures in Turbo Pascal |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn= 0-201-15624-5}} (with Bruce R. Maxim)
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kje3t9dZ09kC&q=pascal+fifth+edition+koffman |title=Pascal |year=1995 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn=0-201-52674-3|edition=5th}}
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHoYAAAACAAJ&q=Elliot+koffman |title=Turing: Problem solving and program design |year=1995 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn=0-201-42640-4}} (with Richard C. Holt and Chrysanne DiMarco)
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aXoeAQAAIAAJ&q=Elliot+koffman+textbooks |title=Fortran |year=1997 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |edition=5th |isbn=0-201-59062-X}} (with Frank L. Friedman)
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KMFQAAAAMAAJ&q=Elliot+koffman |title=Turbo Pascal – Web Update |year=1998 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |edition=5th |isbn= 0-201-35086-6}}
  • "Ada: Problem Solving and Program Design." Feldman, Michael B. & Koffman, Elliot B., {{ISBN|0-201-52279-9}}. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company; 1992 & 1993. 795 pages.
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-MxXAAAAYAAJ&q=Elliot+koffman+textbooks |title=Ada 95: Problem solving and program design |edition=3rd |year=1999 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn= 0-201-36123-X}} (with Michael B. Feldman)
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dq8KAAAACAAJ&q=Elliot+koffman |title=Problem Solving, Abstraction, & Design Using C++: The Visual C++ Manual |year=2001 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn=0-201-75066-X}} (with Frank L. Friedman)
  • {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/problemsolvingwi00elli |url-access=registration |quote=Elliot koffman. |title=Problem solving with Java |year=2002 |edition=2nd|publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn=0-201-72214-3}} (with Ursula Wolz)
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3HI_AQAAIAAJ&q=Elliot+koffman+textbooks |title=C program design for engineers |edition=2nd |year=2001 |publisher=Addison-Wesley Longman |isbn= 0-201-70871-X}} (with Jeri R. Hanly)
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T4Y_AQAAIAAJ&q=Elliot+koffman+textbooks |title=Objects, abstraction, data structures and design using Java |year=2004 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=0-471-46756-1}} (with Paul A. T. Wolfgang)
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cFjoQwAACAAJ&q=C%2B%2B+Elliot+koffman

|title=Problem solving and program design in C |year=2007 |publisher=Pearson Addison-Wesley |edition=5th|isbn=978-0-321-40991-1}} (with Jeri R. Hanly)

  • {{cite book |title=Problem Solving, Abstraction, and Design Using C++|isbn= 978-0-13-706781-7|edition=6th |year=2010 |publisher=Pearson Education}} (with Frank L. Friedman)
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KE4pGLisE_4C&q=Elliot+koffman+textbooks&pg=PR32 |title=Data Structures: Abstraction and Design Using Java |edition=2nd |publisher=Wiley |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-470-12870-1}} (with Paul A. T. Wolfgang)

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20100621190005/http://www.cis.temple.edu/~koffman/ Koffman's page at Temple University]
  • [http://dl.acm.org/author_page.cfm?id=81339510158 ACM Digital Library: Elliot Bruce Koffman]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koffman, Elliot}}

Category:20th-century American mathematicians

Category:21st-century American mathematicians

Category:American computer scientists

Category:American technology writers

Category:American computer programmers

Category:United States Army officers

Category:Writers from Boston

Category:Writers from Philadelphia

Category:Temple University faculty

Category:1942 births

Category:Living people