Charles L. Baker

Software engineer responsible for the early JOSS II on-line computer services.

Education BS, physics, MIT, 1951.

Professional Experience: Douglas Aircraft Company: 1951-1956, computing specialist, Santa Monica Engineering Department, 1953-1956; Rand Corp., Santa Monica, 1956-1967; IBM Corp., Washington, D.C.; International Computing Co.; Ocean Data Systems, senior software engineer, Science Applications, Inc.

Baker joined the Douglas Aircraft Co. in 195 1, and in 1953 was a computing specialist in the Santa Monica, Calif. engineering department. In 1955 he was a delegate to the Project for the Advancement of Coding Techniques (PACT). In 1956 he moved to the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica. Among his activities was project leadership for the JOSS II on-line computer service-coordinating the research to develop the nature and extent of computer problem solving support required. Technical activities included the design and specification of the JOSS II remote typewriter console, interfaced to the computer through a unique private-wire installation which distributed 'JOSS computer power" automatically to any of 300 individual wall outlets in the Rand complex. During the period 1956-1961 he programmed the Information Processing Language Five (IPL-V) system for the IBM 704, 709, 7090 and the 7044 series of machines, and specified many features of the final, complete system. As the first acting secretary of SHARE, he organized the SHARE Operating System working group, which produced the first large-scale operating system -- SOS -- for the IBM 709. He relocated to the Washington, D.C., area in 1967 and worked at IBM, the International Computing Company, and Ocean Data Systems. He is currently senior software engineer at Science Applications, Inc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Biographical

Baker, Charles L., "JOSS-JOHNNIAC Open-Shop System," in Wexelblat, Richard L, ed., History of Programming Languages, Academic Press, New York, 1981, Chapter X.

Significant Publications

Baker, Charles I., "The PACT I Coding System for the IBM Type 701," J. ACM, Vol. 3, 1956, pp. 272-278.