Roy Nutt
{{Short description|American computer pioneer and businessman (1930–1990)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{more footnotes|date=October 2008}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Roy Nutt
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = October 20, 1930
| birth_place = Marlborough, Massachusetts, US
| death_date = June 14, 1990 (age 59)
| death_place = Seattle, Washington
| occupation = Businessman:
Computer software
}}
Roy Nutt (October 20, 1930 – June 14, 1990) was an American businessman and computer pioneer. He was a co-creator of Fortran{{cite news
| title = Roy Nutt Dies at 59; Helped to Develop Computer Language
| last = Narvaez
| first = Alfonso
| date = June 20, 1990
| work = The New York Times
}} As corrected June 22, 1990. and co-founded Computer Sciences Corporation.
Fortran
Born in Marlborough, Massachusetts, Roy Nutt grew up in Glastonbury, Connecticut. He graduated in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Trinity College in Hartford.
A pioneer in the fledgling software industry of the 1950s, Roy Nutt was a major contributor in the creation of IBM's FORTRAN, the first high-level scientific and engineering programming language. Part of the FORTRAN project's team, he was responsible for developing the computer command FORMAT, which controls data for input and output.{{Cite web|title=Computer Pioneers - Roy Nutt|url=https://history.computer.org/pioneers/nutt.html|access-date=2020-08-24|website=history.computer.org}}
Nutt also created an assembler for the IBM 704 mainframe that is today seen as the most successful individual programming effort of the 1950s.
SHARE
During this period, Roy Nutt met Fletcher Jones when he joined with nineteen others from the aerospace industry to form the influential IBM user group known as SHARE which developed SOS, one of the first operating systems. Jones, as secretary of the group, became its national spokesman and their working relationship would later result in a business partnership.
CSC
Roy Nutt had become a widely respected computer programmer for United Aircraft Corp. in East Hartford, Connecticut, where he developed the Symbolic Assembly Program for the IBM 704. He left in 1959 to team up with Fletcher Jones to establish Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in Los Angeles.
Jones, who ran the business and marketing end of things, obtained a contract from Honeywell that gave their business profitability and respect within the industry. Nutt was responsible for building Honeywell the first commercial compiler (FACT) and oversaw the company's major 1961 entry into the space industry when they obtained a contract to support the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Flight Operations Facility.
Within four years of its founding, CSC became the largest software company in the United States. Taking their business Public company with an IPO listed on the American Stock Exchange. By the end of the 1960s, CSC was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and had operations in Canada, the United Kingdom, (Germany), Italy, and in The Netherlands.
Later years
In later years, Roy Nutt used some of his wealth to benefit Trinity College. He set up an endowment fund for a professorship and donated money to assist in the construction of the college's engineering and computing building. Trinity College honored him in May 2012 when they renamed the building the Roy Nutt Mathematics, Engineering & Computer Science Center.{{cite web |date=May 18, 2012 |title=Trinity Honors the Leadership and Legacy of Roy Nutt '53 |url=http://www.trincoll.edu/NewsEvents/NewsArticles/pages/NuttCenter.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128040413/http://www.trincoll.edu/NewsEvents/NewsArticles/pages/NuttCenter.aspx |archive-date=2016-01-28 |publisher=Trinity College}}
Roy Nutt died of lung cancer in Seattle, Washington on June 14, 1990.{{cite web
| url = http://www.mcjones.org/dustydecks/archives/2004/05/24/20/#comment-9
| title = Comment to entry "Daniel N. Leeson"
| last = Nutt
| first = Micah
| date = July 7, 2004
| work = Dusty Decks
| publisher = Paul McJones
| accessdate = 5 October 2008
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Pollock, John P. (1998) Fletcher Jones: An America Success Story. Los Angeles: Pollock.
External links
- [http://www.csc.com/about_us Computer Sciences Corporation website with company history]
- [http://www.trincoll.edu/NewsEvents/NewsArticles/Documents/nutt-dedication-program-web.pdf Trinity College ME & CSC dedication program containing a short biography of Roy Nutt (by Micah Nutt)] {{Archive url|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031810/http://www.trincoll.edu/NewsEvents/NewsArticles/Documents/nutt-dedication-program-web.pdf|date=2016-03-04}}
{{Computer Sciences Corporation}}
{{authority control|state=expanded}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nutt, Roy}}
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:20th-century American philanthropists
Category:American computer businesspeople
Category:Businesspeople in software
Category:People from Glastonbury, Connecticut
Category:People from Marlborough, Massachusetts