Hugh McGregor Ross

{{short description|British computer scientist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Hugh McGregor Ross

| image = Hugh-McGregor-Ross.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Hugh McGregor Ross, 88 years of age when the photo was taken in January 2006, with a copy of the 1987 Draft Proposal for ISO/IEC 10646

| birth_name = Hugh McGregor Ross

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|08|31|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Nairobi, British East Africa

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|09|01|1917|08|31|df=yes}}

| death_place = Painswick, Gloucestershire, England

| nationality = British

| other_names =

| known_for = early work as a computer pioneer, standardization of ASCII

| occupation = computer scientist

| alma_mater =

| website = {{URL|www.gospelofthomas.info}}

}}

Hugh McGregor Ross (31 August 1917 – 1 September 2014){{Cite web|url=http://www.gospelofthomas.info/about.htm|title = Gospel of Thomas Collection | Books by Hugh McGregor Ross | Translations of Jesus' Teaching | Spiritual Truth}} was an early pioneer in the history of British computing.Fischer, Eric. [2000]. [http://www.transbay.net/~enf/ascii/ascii.pdf The Evolution of Character Codes, 1874-1968] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213005708/http://www.transbay.net/~enf/ascii/ascii.pdf |date=13 February 2012 }}{{Cite journal| last1 = Ross | first1 = H. M. | author1-link = Hugh McGregor Ross| title = Further survey of punched card codes| doi = 10.1145/355578.366503| journal = Comm. ACM| volume = 4| issue = 4| pages = 182–183| date=April 1961 | s2cid = 52800768 | doi-access = free}}{{Cite journal| last1 = Ross | first1 = H. M. | author1-link = Hugh McGregor Ross| title = Considerations in Choosing a Character Code for Computers and Punched Tapes| doi = 10.1093/comjnl/3.4.202| journal = Comput. J.| volume = 3| issue = 4| pages = 202–210| year = 1961| doi-access = free}} He was employed by Ferranti from the mid-1960s, where he worked on the Pegasus thermionic valve computer.Ross, Hugh McGregor. 2001. [http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res25.htm "Ferranti's London Computer Centre"], in Computer Resurrection: The Bulletin of the Computer Conservation Society, Number 25, Summer. {{ISSN|0958-7403}} He was involved in the standardization of ASCII and ISO 646 and worked closely with Bob Bemer.Bemer, Bob (n.d.). [http://www.trailing-edge.com/~bobbemer/ROSS.HTM An Email-based Interview with Hugh McGregor Ross] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131124439/http://trailing-edge.com/~bobbemer/ROSS.HTM |date=31 January 2009 }}. Trailing-edge.com. Retrieved 2008-12-09. ASCII was first known in Europe as the Bemer–Ross Code.Bemer, Bob (n.d.). [http://www.trailing-edge.com/~bobbemer/EUROPE.HTM Bemer meets Europe] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017062722/http://www.trailing-edge.com/~bobbemer/EUROPE.HTM |date=17 October 2013 }}. Trailing-edge.com. Retrieved 2008-04-14. Employed at IBM at that time He was also one of the four main designers of ISO 6937, with Peter Fenwick, Bernard Marti and Loek Zeckendorf. He was one of the principal architects of the Universal Character Set ISO/IEC 10646 when it was first conceived.

Hugh was an expert in the Gospel of Thomas and wrote several books about it. He was a Quaker, and also wrote about George Fox. His working papers on the teachings of Fox are held at Yorkshire Quaker Heritage Project.[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~quakers/records.htm Quaker Records] at ancestry.com