Isaac L. Auerbach

Born: October 9, 1921, Philadelphia, Pa.; died December 24, 1992, Narberth, Pa.; first president and founder of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP).

Education: BSEE, Drexel University, 1943; MS, applied physics, Harvard University, 1947.

Professional Experience: research engineer, Univac Division, Sperry-Rand Corp., 1947-1949; manager, Defense Space and Special Products Division, Burroughs Corp., 1949-1957; president, Auerbach Associates, Inc., 1957-1976; president, Auerbach Publishers Inc., 1960-1981, chairman, 1981-1986.

Honors and Awards: National Academy of Engineering; president, IFIP, 1960-1965; fellow, IEEE; fellow, AAAS; distinguished fellow, British Computer Society; DEng (Hon.), Drexel University.

Isaac Auerbach was a member of the original team for the design of the BINAC and Univac I in the late 1940s. He directed the development of the first transistorized guidance computer used in the US Space Program. He developed an extraordinarily reliable magnetic core encryption/decryption communication system. He founded many companies in the computer field, including Auerbach Associates, the first computer consulting company, which grew into a multinational organization responsible for the design of command and control systems for the Pacific and Indian Oceans; and Auerbach Publishers, a leading source of electronic data processing and management information services. He was the biographer of several IFIP and AFIPS personalities--Victor Glushkov, Niels Ivar Bech, Dov Chevion, and Harry Goode. In 1994 IFIP created a new service award in his name.

OUOTATION:

"I am not a great writer, although a decent, innovative, and creative entrepreneur, and a competent editor."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Biographical

Armer, Paul, et al., "Reflections on a Quarter Century: AFIPS Founders," Ann. Hist. Comp., Vol. 8, No. 3, July 1986, pp. 225-256.

Auerbach, Isaac L, "The Start of IFIP-Personal Recollections," Ann. Hist. Comp., Vol. 8, No. 2, 1986, pp. 180-192.

Significant Publications

Auerbach, Isaac L., J.P. Eckert, R. F. Shaw, and E. B. Shepperd, "Mercury Delay Line Memory Using a Pulse Rate of Several Megacycles," Proc. IRE, Vol. 37, No. 8, Aug. 1949, pp. 855-861.

Auerbach, Isaac L, and J. 0. Paivinen, "Design of Triode Flip-Flops for Long-Term Stability," IRE. Trans. Elec. Comp. PGEC, Vol. 2, No. 2 June 1953, pp. 14-26.

Auerbach, Isaac L, "Magnetic Elements in Arithmetic and Control Circuits," AIEE Winter General Meeting, AIEE, New York City, Feb. 3,1955.

Auerbach, Isaac L., "Systems Engineering," IRE WESTCON Convention Record, Vol. 1, No. 10, Aug. 1957, pp. 62-67.

Auerbach, Isaac L., "Magnetic Core Circuits for Digital Applications," Automatic Control, Vol. 11, No. 2, Aug. 1959, pp. 48-55.

Auerbach, Isaac L., "European Electronic Data Processing: A Report on the Industry and the State of the Art," Proc. IRE, Vol. 49, No. 1, Jan. 1961, pp. 330-348.

Auerbach, Isaac L, "Need for an Information Systems Theory," The Skyline of Information Processing, Proc. 10th Anniv. Celebration of the Int'l Fed. Information Processing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1970.