Reynold B. Johnson
Reynold B. Johnson | |
---|---|
Born | Minnesota, U.S. | July 16, 1906
Died | September 15, 1998 Palo Alto, California, U.S. | (aged 92)
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Minnesota |
Occupation(s) | Inventor, Computer pioneer |
Awards | Computer Pioneer Award (1987) |
Reynold B. Johnson (July 16, 1906 – September 15, 1998) was an American inventor and computer pioneer. A long-time employee of
Biography
A native of Minnesota, born to Swedish immigrants, Johnson graduated from Minnehaha Academy (1925) and went on to graduate from the University of Minnesota (BS in Educational Administration, 1929).
In the early 1930s, Johnson, then a high school science teacher in Michigan, invented an electronic test scoring machine that sensed pencil marks on a standardized form. IBM bought the rights to Reynold's invention and hired him as an engineer to work in their Endicott, New York laboratory. The test scoring machine was sold as the IBM 805 Test Scoring Machine beginning in 1937.
One of Reynold's early assignments was to develop technology that allowed cards marked with pencil marks to be converted into
In 1952, IBM sent Johnson to San Jose, California, to set up and manage its West Coast Laboratory. In 1956, a research team led by Johnson developed disk data storage technology, which IBM released as the IBM 305 RAMAC. Although the first disk drive was crude by modern standards, it launched a multibillion-dollar industry.
Johnson was working with Sony on another project when he developed the prototype for a half-inch videocassette tape. Lou Stevens noted that "Sony was using wider tape on reels. He cut the tape to a half an inch, and put it in a cartridge. The larger tapes weren't easy enough for kids to use, and his interest was in education and building a video textbook for kids."[1]
Johnson retired from IBM in 1971. He obtained more than 90 patents. After his retirement, he developed the
The IEEE Reynold B. Johnson Information Storage Systems Award was established in 1991, and is each year presented to a small team or an individual that has made outstanding contributions to information storage systems.
Johnson was awarded the
Johnson died in 1998, at the age of 92, of melanoma at Palo Alto, California.[2]
References
- Investors Business Daily. p. 1.
- ^ Fisher, Lawrence M. (September 18, 1998). "Reynold Johnson, 92, Pioneer In Computer Hard Disk Drives". The New York Times. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
Further reading
- Lundstrom, Mack (September 17, 1998). "Reynold, father of disk drive, dies at 92". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1A.
- "R.B. Johnson Dies; Disk Drive Inventor". Washington Post. September 20, 1998. p. B06.
- Blankenship, William D. (June 1971). "Rey Johnson: A Full life, A Fuller Future". IBM Archives. IBM. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
- Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering, Volume 9 (2001)