Bjarne Stroustrup
Born 1950 · Age 75
Danish computer scientist, designer and original implementer of the C++ programming language; long career at Bell Labs, Texas A&M, Morgan Stanley, and Columbia University. Author of core C++ books and leading member of the ISO C++ standards committee.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Aarhus, Denmark
Bjarne Stroustrup was born in Aarhus, Denmark to a working-class family.
Began studies at Aarhus University
Started university studies (mathematics and computer science) at Aarhus University.
Graduated Cand.scient. (Math & CS), Aarhus University
Received Cand.scient. degree (equivalent to a master's) in mathematics with computer science from Aarhus University.
Married Marian Tinson
Bjarne Stroustrup married Marian Tinson (marriage year given as 1975).
Daughter Annemarie born (while at Cambridge)
His daughter was born while Stroustrup was a student at Cambridge (exact year not given; placed near completion of PhD).
Began development of 'C with Classes' (later C++)
Started designing and implementing an extension to C to support objects and abstractions — the origin of C++.
PhD in Computer Science, University of Cambridge
Awarded PhD; thesis 'Communication and control in distributed computer systems' supervised by David Wheeler.
Moved to the United States to join Bell Labs
Moved with his wife and daughter to New Jersey to join the Computer Science Research Center at Bell Labs (Murray Hill).
Joined Bell Labs as member of technical staff
Started work in Bell Labs' Computer Science Research Center; began the work that led to C++.
Son born in Meyersville, NJ (while at Bell Labs)
His son Nicholas was born while the family lived in Meyersville near Bell Labs (year estimated early 1980s).
Published 'Classes: An Abstract Data Type Facility for the C Language'
Early paper presenting classes in C (Sigplan Notices, Jan 1982) documenting ideas that led to C++.
Published 'Data Abstraction in C'
Important Bell Labs Technical Journal paper (October 1984) on data abstraction in C — contributed to C++ development.
Published 'The C++ Programming Language' (1st ed.)
First edition of the definitive textbook about C++ published in 1985, which helped adoption of the language.
C++ made generally available
C++ (originally 'C with Classes') made generally available in 1985; compiler and foundation libraries source for non-commercial use cost US$75.
Founding member of ANSI C++ standards committee
Took active role in forming standards work for C++; committee became ANSI (1989) and later ISO (1991).
Published 'The Annotated C++ Reference Manual' (with Margaret Ellis)
A key reference manual documenting the language and early design decisions (often cited as ARRM).
C++ ISO committee established
ANSI work transitioned to ISO in 1991; Stroustrup was closely involved in C++ standardization.
ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award
Received the ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award for his early work laying the foundations for C++.
Named Bell Labs (AT&T Bell Laboratories) Fellow
Made a Bell Labs fellow in recognition of contributions.
ACM Fellow & IEEE Fellow
Elected Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and Fellow of the IEEE (both cited in 1994).
Published 'The Design and Evolution of C++'
Book documenting design principles and history of C++ and its evolution (1994).
Named by BYTE as one of 20 most influential people in computing
BYTE magazine named him one of the 20 most influential people in the computer industry in the previous 20 years.
Named AT&T Fellow
Awarded the title AT&T Fellow (1996) acknowledging his continued leadership at AT&T Bell Labs.
Published 3rd edition of 'The C++ Programming Language'
Third edition updated language and library material (1997).
Special edition of 'The C++ Programming Language' published
A special edition (2000) consolidating subsequent updates to the language documentation.
Left Bell Labs; joined Texas A&M University as Chair Professor
Moved to academia: became College of Engineering Chair Professor in Computer Science at Texas A&M (2002–2014).
Ended leadership of Large-scale Programming Research at AT&T Bell Labs
Stepped down from heading Bell Labs' Large-scale Programming Research department (had led it from its creation until late 2002).
Elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE)
Elected NAE member for creation of the C++ programming language.
William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement (Sigma Xi)
First computer scientist to receive Sigma Xi's William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement.
Dr. Dobb's Excellence in Programming Award
Received Dr. Dobb's Excellence Award for contributions to programming.
TEES Research Fellow (Texas A&M)
Recognized with TEES Research Fellowship at Texas A&M (date cited by his bio).
Association of Former Students' Distinguished Achievement Award (TAMU)
Texas A&M Association-level distinguished achievement award for research.
Promotion to Distinguished Professor (Texas A&M)
Attained Texas A&M's highest academic rank, Distinguished Professor, in 2010.
Named University Distinguished Professor (Texas A&M)
Granted the honorary University Distinguished Professor title (bestowed 'in perpetuity').
Sabbatical: Princeton Computer Science Department (Fall)
Spent fall 2011 on development leave in the Princeton CS department.
Sabbatical: Cambridge Computer Lab & overseas fellow of Churchill College (Spring)
Spring 2012 on sabbatical at Cambridge and served as an overseas fellow of Churchill College.
Published 'A Tour of C++' (1st edition date varies in sources)
Authored 'A Tour of C++' (later editions 2nd/3rd in 2018/2022); provides an overview of modern C++.
Joined Morgan Stanley as Managing Director, Technology Division
Left full-time academia to become a Technical Fellow/managing director in the technology division at Morgan Stanley in NYC (January 2014).
Became Visiting Professor, Columbia University
Started as a visiting professor in Columbia University's Computer Science department (January 2014).
Fellow of the Computer History Museum; Dahl–Nygaard Prize
Inducted as a CHM Fellow and received the Dahl–Nygaard senior prize for contributions to OOP and C++.
IET Faraday Medal and Honorary Fellow of Churchill College
Received the Faraday Medal (IET) and was elected Honorary Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge.
Charles Stark Draper Prize (NAE)
Awarded the Draper Prize by the U.S. National Academy of Engineering for conceptualizing and developing C++ — one of the world's highest engineering honors.
IEEE Computer Society Computer Pioneer Award and John Scott Medal
Received IEEE Computer Pioneer Award and the John Scott Legacy Medal (Franklin Institute).
Promoted to Morgan Stanley's first Technical Fellow
Promotion recognizing technical leadership inside Morgan Stanley (2019).
Honorary Doctorate, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Awarded an honorary doctorate (Doctor Causa Honoris) by UC3M in 2019.
Published 'Thriving in a crowded and changing world: C++ 2006–2020'
Major survey/paper (Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages, June 2020) on C++ evolution and status.
C++ user community estimated (site claim)
Site cites Fall 2015 survey estimating 4.4 million C++ programmers; later suggests up to ~7 million (programmer counts are estimates).
Retired from Morgan Stanley
Retired (April 2, 2022) to spend more time on non-commercial C++ work, travel, and family.
Full Professor of Computer Science, Columbia University
Transitioned from visiting professor to full professor at Columbia University (as of July 2022).
Continued authorship & editions of key C++ books
Stroustrup's major books continued to be maintained: The C++ Programming Language (4th ed. 2013), A Tour of C++ (editions through 2022), Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ (3rd ed. 2024 listed on site).
Publication: Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ (3rd edition per his site)
Site lists a 3rd edition (2024) of his influential programming textbook.
Entered into Kraks Blaa Bog (Danish Who's Who)
Listed in Kraks Blaa Bog 2025 — rare honor for a computer scientist in Denmark (site lists this honor in 2025).
Maintains active role in ISO C++ standards committee (WG21)
Long-term and continuing involvement in WG21; chaired the subgroup handling extension proposals (Evolution Working Group) for 24 years.
Key Achievement Ages
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