John Backus
Born 1924 · Age 101
American computer scientist who led the team that created FORTRAN and invented Backus–Naur Form (BNF); later researched function-level programming (FP, FL). Recipient of the National Medal of Science, ACM Turing Award and other honors.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
John Warner Backus born in Philadelphia; later grew up in Wilmington, Delaware.
Childhood in Wilmington, Delaware
Raised in Wilmington, Delaware; son of Cecil Franklin Backus and Elizabeth Warner Edsall.
Graduated The Hill School
Attended and graduated from The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania (reported as not a diligent student).
Entered University of Virginia (chemistry)
Enrolled at the University of Virginia to study chemistry at his father's request.
Sent to Army specialized training (Univ. of Pittsburgh)
After good aptitude test scores, Army sent him to study engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
Conscripted / joined U.S. Army
Entered U.S. Army during World War II; later attained rank of corporal and commanded an anti-aircraft battery at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
Expelled from University of Virginia
Expelled after less than a year due to poor attendance.
Transferred to Haverford College (pre-med)
Transferred into a pre-medical program at Haverford College as part of Army specialized training.
Diagnosed with cranial bone tumor; first surgery
During a hospital internship a cranial bone tumor was discovered and successfully removed; a metal plate was installed in his head.
Attended Flower and Fifth Avenue Medical School (briefly)
Entered Flower and Fifth Avenue Medical School in New York City; left after nine months, finding the training uninteresting.
Second cranial operation; replaced plate with own design
Underwent a second operation to replace the metal plate in his head with one he designed; soon after received an honorable medical discharge from the Army.
Attended radio technician school; turned to mathematics
Trained as a radio technician in New York City; that work led to an interest in mathematics and eventual enrollment at Columbia University.
Honorable medical discharge from U.S. Army
Left the Army in 1946 with an honorable discharge.
Married Marjorie Jamison
First marriage (Marjorie Jamison). The marriage later lasted until 1966; two daughters resulted from this marriage.
Offered job at IBM after SSEC visit
While visiting the IBM Computing Center (SSEC) in spring 1949 he spoke to the project director and was offered a job on the spot as a programmer.
B.S. in Mathematics from Columbia University
Graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor's degree in mathematics.
M.A. in Mathematics from Columbia University
Completed a master's degree in mathematics (AM/MS) at Columbia University.
Techniques used later by NASA
The computational techniques Backus developed on the SSEC (e.g., lunar ephemeris routines) were later used by NASA in Apollo-era computations (1960s).
Joined IBM as programmer
Joined IBM (Pure & Applied Science Departments) as a programmer; initial work on the Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator (SSEC).
SSEC moon-position program project
First major project at IBM: wrote a program to calculate positions of the Moon for the SSEC; techniques later used by NASA for Apollo-era computations.
Developed Speedcoding
Created Speedcoding (1953), the first high-level language developed for an IBM computer (to aid programming the IBM 701).
Appointed manager of Programming Research Department, IBM
Became manager of the Programming Research Department (1954–1959); assembled a team to design a new high-level language.
Assembled team to develop FORTRAN
Assembled approximately a ten-person team to define and develop FORTRAN for the IBM 704 to simplify scientific programming.
Published Preliminary Report: FORTRAN specifications
Published the Preliminary Report, Specifications for the IBM Mathematical FORmula TRANslating System (autumn 1954).
FORTRAN project team size & codebase milestone
FORTRAN project consumed ~25,000 lines of machine language; demonstrated that compilers could produce code competitive with hand-coded assembly.
FORTRAN adoption milestone
FORTRAN rapidly gained adoption in the scientific community and became the dominant scientific programming language for decades.
FORTRAN first commercial release (IBM 704)
FORTRAN released and bundled with IBM 704 installations; FORTRAN became the first widely used high-level programming language.
Continued FORTRAN refinement
Backus and his team continued refining the FORTRAN compiler through the late 1950s until it reached stability and correctness.
Contributed to ALGOL 58 committee
Served on international committees developing ALGOL 58 (and later ALGOL 60), contributing to early language standardization.
Transitioned to IBM research staff
Moved from managerial role into IBM research staff (research staff era roughly 1959–1963).
Published Backus–Naur Form (BNF)
Developed and published Backus–Naur Form (BNF) in the UNESCO report on ALGOL 58 — a formal notation for describing programming language syntax.
ALGOL 60 development and influence
Participated in creation of ALGOL 60, which became a de facto standard for publishing algorithms.
Named IBM Fellow
Awarded the title of IBM Fellow (1963), a position providing freedom to pursue research projects.
Political / technical activism: Computer Professionals Against ABM
Member of Computer Professionals Against ABM (circa 1965–1975), opposing the U.S. anti-ballistic missile system on technical grounds.
Divorced first wife Marjorie Jamison
Backus divorced Marjorie Jamison in 1966 (first marriage lasted roughly 1947–1966).
Received IEEE W. W. McDowell Award
Awarded the W. W. McDowell Award (IEEE Computer Society) in 1967 for development of FORTRAN.
Married Barbara Una (Barbara Una Stannard)
Married Barbara Una (an author and poet) on July 18, 1968; they remained married until her death in 2004.
Worked on FP language research
Focused research on function-level programming and the FP language (later work led to FL, an FP successor inside IBM).
Adjunct professor, UC Santa Cruz
Served as adjunct professor of information sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz (1974).
Awarded National Medal of Science
Received the U.S. National Medal of Science (year listed as 1975); recognized for pioneering contributions to programming languages.
Received ACM Turing Award and delivered lecture
Awarded the ACM A.M. Turing Award (1977) and delivered the influential lecture 'Can Programming Be Liberated from the von Neumann Style?'.
FP language described
Presented and described the function-level language FP in his Turing Award lecture; FP promoted a function-level paradigm distinct from lambda-based functional languages.
Turing lecture published in Communications of the ACM
Published 'Can programming be liberated from the von Neumann style?: a functional style and its algebra of programs' in Communications of the ACM (Aug 1978).
Visiting professor, UC Berkeley
Served as visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley (1980).
Developed FL (Function Level) work at IBM
Contributed to development of FL, a successor to FP, as an internal IBM research project (most development and documentation not publicly released).
FP interpreter included with 4.2BSD
An FP interpreter was distributed with the 4.2BSD Unix operating system (making FP available in BSD in the early 1980s).
Opposed Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Publicly opposed the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative on technical grounds, believing software could not manage such systems reliably.
Visiting professor, UC Berkeley (second appointment)
Returned as a visiting professor at UC Berkeley (1985).
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1985).
Honorary doctorate, Université Henri-Poincaré
Awarded an honorary degree (Doctor honoris causa) from Université Henri-Poincaré (Nancy) in 1989.
Retired from IBM
Officially retired from IBM in 1991 after a multi-decade research and managerial career (IBM Fellow through 1991).
Awarded Charles Stark Draper Prize
Received the Charles Stark Draper Prize from the National Academy of Engineering (1993) for development of FORTRAN.
Computer History Museum Fellow Award
Received the Computer History Museum Fellow Award (1997) for development of FORTRAN and other contributions.
Death of second wife, Barbara Una; moved to Ashland, Oregon
Second wife Barbara Una (married 1968) died in 2004; Backus moved to Ashland, Oregon to be near his daughter Paula.
Died in Ashland, Oregon
John W. Backus died at his home in Ashland, Oregon on March 17, 2007.
Asteroid 6830 Johnbackus named in his honor (posthumous)
Asteroid 6830 Johnbackus was named in his honor (designation announced June 1, 2007).
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