Frances Bilas was an American mathematician and one of the six original programmers of the ENIAC, recruited along with her colleagues from the University of Pennsylvanias wartime program of women computers who calculated artillery firing tables by hand. Selected to program the ENIAC itself once it was built, she and the other five original programmers had to determine the machines logical structure and devise their own programming methods, since none yet existed for a machine of ENIACs kind.
Facts
AwardWomen in Technology Hall of Fame 2 FAQs
Why were the names of the ENIAC's women programmers left out when it was unveiled?
The Army did not name them at the 1946 unveiling.
When the ENIAC was unveiled to the public on February 15, 1946, the US Army did not mention the names of the female programmers, including Frances Bilas, who had programmed it to run such sophisticated calculations.
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Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Source Wikipedia: Frances BilasLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articletier 2Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
Frances V. Spence (née Bilas; March 2, 1922 – July 18, 2012) was an American physicist and computer scientist.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Frances Bilas
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
Spence (née Bilas; March 2, 1922 - July 18, 2012) was an American physicist and computer scientist. She was one of the original programmers for the ENIAC (the first electronic digital computer).
2. Frances Bilas (Wikidata)
Wikidata P166: Women in Technology Hall of FameQuote, Wikidata P166: Women in Technology Hall of Fame
Wikidata P166 (award received): Women in Technology Hall of Fame.
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