John Makepeace Bennett (1921 to 2010) was an early Australian computer scientist who became Australia's first professor of computer science and the founding president of the Australian Computer Society. As a research student at Cambridge he worked on the EDSAC, one of the first stored program computers, and carried out the first structural engineering calculations ever run on a computer as part of his PhD. He returned to Australia in 1956 to lead computing at the University of Sydney, where his team programmed and used SILLIAC, and his honors included appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1983 and the Pearcey Medal in 2004.
Facts
AwardFellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering 1 AwardOfficer of the Order of Australia 1 FAQs
When did John Bennett become Australia's first professor of computing?
He became Australia's first professor of computing in 1961, under the title professor of physics (electronic computing); the title became professor of computer science in 1982.
The University of Sydney sources give two dates because a title changed. Bennett began at the university in 1956, and in 1961 he became Australia's first professor of computing, with the initial title of professor of physics (electronic computing). In 1982 that title was changed to professor of computer science and head of the Basser Department of Computer Science. A short biography at the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation dates his foundation professorship of computing science to 1982, which reflects the retitled chair rather than a later first appointment.
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Sources
1. Wikidata: John Makepeace Bennett
Wikidata Q13392276, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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