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Pioneer

Dennis Ritchie

Also Known As Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie · A. Rit?i · dmr
Software And Its Engineering

Dennis Ritchie was an American computer scientist who created the C programming language at Bell Labs in the early 1970s and, together with Ken Thompson, rewrote the Unix operating system in C, which made Unix practical to port across different kinds of computer hardware for the first time. Ritchie and Thompson shared the 1983 ACM Turing Award for their work on Unix.

Facts
Birth Year
1941 1
Birth Date
1941-09-09 2
Death Year
2011 1
Death Date
2011-10-12 2
Wikipedia lead marks the death date as approximate (c. October 12, 2011); the Death section states he was found dead at his home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey on that date after being in frail health for several years. Exact date of death not independently established beyond the date he was found.
Nationality
American 1
Connections

Associated With

Plan 9 from Bell Labs, Systems

In Field

Operating Systems, Fields
Source Computer History Museum

Invented

C, Programming Languages
Source Computer History Museum
Unix, Systems
Source ACM A.M. Turing Award Citations
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Computer History Museum
Computer History Museum
  • 1997 Fellow citation
    For his cocreation, with Ken Thompson, of the UNIX operating system, and for development of the C programming language
  • In Field: Operating Systems
  • Invented: C
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Dennis Ritchie
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Early life and education
    He created, together with long-time colleague Ken Thompson, the Unix operating system, C programming language, and B programming language.
  • lead sentence, parenthetical birth date
    Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie (September 9, 1941
  • Death section, first sentence
    Ritchie was found dead on October 12, 2011, at the age of 70 at his home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where he lived alone
View the Source
ACM A.M. Turing Award Citations
Association for Computing Machinery
  • Citation
    With Ken Thompson, for their development of generic operating systems theory and specifically for the implementation of the UNIX operating system.
  • Invented: Unix
View the Source
Dennis Ritchie (Wikidata)
  • Wikidata alias: Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie
    Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie
  • Wikidata P166: Harold Pender Award
    Wikidata P166 (award received): Harold Pender Award.
  • Wikidata P166: National Inventors Hall of Fame
    Wikidata P166 (award received): National Inventors Hall of Fame.
  • Wikidata P166: IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal
    Wikidata P166 (award received): IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal.
  • Wikidata P166: Turing Award
    Wikidata P166 (award received): Turing Award.
  • Wikidata P166: Computer History Museum Fellow
    Wikidata P166 (award received): Computer History Museum Fellow.
  • Wikidata P166: Computer Pioneer Award
    Wikidata P166 (award received): Computer Pioneer Award.
  • Wikidata P166: IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award
    Wikidata P166 (award received): IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award.
  • Wikidata P166: IRI Achievement Award
    Wikidata P166 (award received): IRI Achievement Award.
  • Wikidata P166: Japan Prize
    Wikidata P166 (award received): Japan Prize.
  • Wikidata P166: National Medal of Technology and Innovation
    Wikidata P166 (award received): National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
  • Wikidata P166: ACM Software System Award
    Wikidata P166 (award received): ACM Software System Award.
  • Wikidata alias: A. Rit?i
    A. Rit?i
  • Wikidata alias: dmr
    dmr
View the Source
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