Fernando Corbato was an American computer scientist who pioneered time-sharing operating systems at MIT. He led development of the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS), demonstrated in 1961, and led the Multics development project at MIT Project MAC from its beginning in 1963 into the mid-1970s, work that influenced Unix and modern operating systems, including their hierarchical file systems. He is also credited with the first use of passwords to secure access to files on a shared computer system. He received the 1990 ACM Turing Award for organizing the concepts and leading the development of CTSS and Multics. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
AwardHarry H. Goode Memorial Award 1 AwardW. Wallace McDowell Award 1 AwardComputer History Museum Fellow 1 FAQs
Did Fernando Corbató invent the computer password?
He led CTSS at MIT. MIT News calls CTSS widely credited as the first computer system to use passwords.
He is widely credited with it, though the credit belongs to the system he led rather than to a single invention. MIT News describes the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS), first demonstrated in 1961, as widely credited as the first computer system to use passwords, because it introduced the idea of having people create individual accounts with personal passwords. Corbató led that effort, so the first use of passwords on a shared computer is commonly attributed to his team's work. As with other firsts in computing, this is a common attribution and not a settled priority claim.
Connections
Associated With
Led the Multics development project at MIT Project MAC from its beginning in 1963 into the mid-1970s; Multics was a joint MIT, Bell Labs and General Electric project rather than a single inventor's work.
Source Multicians.org: Corby
In Field
Source Wikipedia: Fernando J. Corbato
Invented
Source Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC): Compatible Timesharing System
Fernando Corbato led the Multics project at MIT (Project MAC), the pioneering time-sharing operating system that directly influenced the design of Unix.
Source Wikipedia: Fernando J. Corbato
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Wikidata: Fernando J. Corbato
- Wikidata Q92625, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata Q92625 P569 (date of birth)
2. Wikipedia: Fernando J. Corbato
Wikimedia FoundationLife and career
Fernando José Corbató was born on July 1, 1926, in Oakland, California, to Hermenegildo Corbató, a Spanish literature professor from Villarreal, Spain, and Charlotte Corbató (née Jensen), a Danish American.
Lead section
Fernando José "Corby" Corbató (July 1, 1926 - July 12, 2019) was an American computer scientist, notable as a pioneer in the development of time-sharing operating systems. He won the 1990 ACM Turing Award.
Lead section
Fernando José "Corby" Corbató (July 1, 1926 - July 12, 2019) was an American computer scientist, notable as a pioneer in the development of time-sharing operating systems.
- Invented: Multics
In Field: Operating Systems, Lead
Fernando José "Corby" Corbató (July 1, 1926, July 12, 2019) was an American computer scientist, notable as a pioneer in the development of time-sharing operating systems.
View the Source MIT News, Professor Emeritus Fernando Corbato, MIT computing pioneer, dies at 93
Lead sectionQuote, Lead section
"From PCs to smartphones, the digital revolution can directly trace its roots back to the work that he led at MIT nearly 60 years ago." In 1990 Corbató was honored for his work with the Association of Computing Machinery's Turing Award , often described as "the Nobel Prize for computing." From sonar to CTSS Corbató was born on July 1, 1926 in Oakland, California.
Multicians.org: Corby
Multicians.orgAssociated With: Multics, Leadership and Vision sectionView the Source Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC): Compatible Timesharing System
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC)Invented: Compatible Time-Sharing System, DefinitionQuote, Invented: Compatible Time-Sharing System, Definition
It was developed at the MIT Computation Center by a team led by Fernando J. Corbato.
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