Computer Science Superheroes

Elizabeth Feinler

Full Name: Elizabeth Jocelyn "Jake" Feinler

Birth: March 2nd, 1931 (age 91)

Academics:

• West Liberty University - Bachelor's Degree in chemistry.
• Purdue University - biochemistry under Dr. Roy Whistler.

Awards:

• Internet all of Fame
• SRI Alumni Hall of Fame in 2000
• Jonathen B. Service Postel Award

Computer Science Contributions:

• Operated Network Information Center (NIC) for Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPANET)
• SRI International
• Wrote documents for ARPANET users.
• Formed .com, .org, .gov, .edu, and .net Domain Name Servers
• Yellow and white page
• Server (WHOIS)
• Encourages high school girls to code.

Sources:

• https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/elizabeth-feinler-and-the-history-of-the-internet
• https://www.internethalloffame.org/official-biography-elizabeth-feinler
• https://www.internethalloffame.org/inductees/elizabeth-feinler

Larry Page

Full Name: Lawrence Edward Page

Birth: March 26th, 1973 (age 49)

Academics:

• University of Michigan - Bachelor's Degree in computer engineering.
• Stanford University - graduate school in computer science.
• Worked with Sergey Brin at Stanford - was the CEO of Google.

Awards:

• Golden Plate Award in 2004
• Marconi Prize

Computer Science Contributions:

• Co-founder of Google
• Became CEO of Google in 2011
• Member of the National Academy of Engineering
• Other platforms besides the search engine (docs, slides, earth, sites, maps, gmail, chrome, drive, etc.)
• Created PageRank with Sergey Brin, the application which Google is based on.

Sources:

• https://engineering.stanford.edu/about/heroes/2014-heroes/larry-page
• https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/sergey-brin-and-larry-page
• https://achievement.org/achiever/larry-page/

Alan Turing

Full Name: Alan Mathison Turing

Birth: June 23rd, 1912

Death: June 7th, 1954 (age 41)

Academics:

• King's College in Cambridge University - studied mathematics.
• Manchester University - worked to develop software for the university's computer advancement.

Awards:

• "The Turing Award" named after Alan Turing - is the "highest distinction in computer science" and the "Nobel Prize of Computing"

Computer Science Contributions:

• "On Computable Numbers" Proof, limitations of computer accomplishments, founding layer of modern computer science.
• Led a group of cryptologists in World War II
• World War II, breaking the Enigma Code, transformed outcome of the war.
• Initially studied the basic questions of artificial intelligence
• Mathmetician, worked on early computers.

Sources:

• https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-alan-turing-cracked-the-enigma-code
• https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing/
• https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Turing/