Robert Dewar

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For the British diplomat, see Robert Dewar (diplomat).

Robert Dewar
Bennington, Vermont, United States
EducationUniversity of Chicago (B.S., 1964; Ph.D., 1968)
Known forIFIP WG 2.1 member, chairperson
AdaCore cofounder, president, CEO
Scientific career
FieldsComputer science
InstitutionsIllinois Institute of Technology
New York University
AdaCore
Thesis (1968)
Doctoral studentsAnita Borg[1]
Websitewww.cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/dewar

Robert Berriedale Keith Dewar (21 June 1945 – 30 June 2015) was an American computer scientist and educator. He helped to develop programming languages and compilers and was an outspoken advocate of freely licensed open-source software. He was a cofounder, CEO, and president of the AdaCore software company. He was also an enthusiastic amateur performer and musician, especially with the Village Light Opera Group in New York City.

Early life and education

Dewar was born in

Chicago, Illinois, when his father accepted a teaching job at the University of Chicago.[4] Dewar attended the University of Chicago, earning a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in 1964, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in chemistry in 1968.[5] He began to work with computers during graduate school.[6]

Career

Dewar was first Assistant Professor of Information Science and later Associate Professor of Computer Science at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) from 1968 to 1975, before becoming Research Associate Professor of Computer Science at New York University (NYU) in 1975, where he was Full Professor of Computer Science from 1976 to 2005, and becoming chair of the department.[5][6][7]

He was involved with developing international standards in programming and informatics, as a member of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) IFIP Working Group 2.1 (WG 2.1) on Algorithmic Languages and Calculi,[8] which specified, maintains, and supports the languages ALGOL 60 and ALGOL 68.[9] He was involved in the design of ALGOL 68,[5] and was WG 2.1 chairperson from 1978 to 1983.

He was associate director of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences from 1994 to 1997. Until his death, he was president of AdaCore, which he cofounded in 1994, and served as its CEO until 2012.[5][10][11] Dewar was an outspoken advocate of freely licensed open-source software and an expert in copyright and patent law for software. He was in demand as a speaker at conferences and expert witness in legal actions.[5][6]

Software contributions

While at the IIT, Dewar created the original

Computer Associates, and still widely used in commercial environments.[citation needed
]

Dewar became involved with the language

ACVC validation suite,[17] mandated for being allowed to use the trademarked name Ada.[18]

Dewar and Schonberg went on to produce GNAT, a free software compiler for Ada that forms part of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC).[5] Dewar also participated in the SETL project at NYU, and co-authored the handbook Programming With Sets: An Introduction to SETL. He influenced the design of the language ABC, in particular its SETL-style high-level data types, such as associative arrays. Guido van Rossum, the author of the language Python, wrote that the use of the colon in Python is due to Dewar's wife.[19]

Personal life

He was married to Karin Dewar, née Anderson (died 2013), and had two children, Jenny (born 1965) and Keith (born 1969), and two grandchildren.[5] Dewar was known as an engaging and witty conversationalist.[6]

Dewar played the bassoon, recorder, and other musical instruments and enjoyed singing. He was an enthusiastic and valued member and benefactor of the Village Light Opera Group (VLOG) for 35 years, serving them in many capacities, from producer and president to music director, and on stage from Harem Guard to the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado.[5][6][20] VLOG's Dewar Center for the Performing Arts was named in recognition of Robert and Karin Dewar's contributions.[21] He was also a member of the North American Heckelphone Society[6] and performed with other groups until only months before his death.[4]

He died of cancer at age 70 at his home in

Bennington, Vermont.[4][22]

Publications

See also

References

  1. ProQuest 303020475
    .
  2. ^ Burkhart, Ford (2 November 1997). "Dr. Michael J. S. Dewar, 79; Research Led to Drug Advances". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  3. ISBN 0-309-59373-5. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  4. ^ a b c Kravetz, Daniel (September 2015). "Robert Dewar 1945–2015". The Palace Peeper. Vol. LXXX, no. 1. The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of New York. p. 3.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ayre, Jamie (2 July 2015). "AdaCore President Robert B. K. Dewar (1945-2015)". Business Wire (Press release). Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Robert B.K. Dewar: Obituary". The New York Times. 22–24 July 2015. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  7. ^ "IIT Computer Science Pioneer Robert B.K. Dewar Passes Away". Illinois Tech. Illinois Institute of Technology. 7 July 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  8. ^ Jeuring, Johan; Meertens, Lambert; Guttmann, Walter (17 August 2016). "Profile of IFIP Working Group 2.1". Foswiki. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  9. ^ Swierstra, Doaitse; Gibbons, Jeremy; Meertens, Lambert (2 March 2011). "ScopeEtc: IFIP21: Foswiki". Foswiki. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  10. ^ "Executive Team". AdaCore. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Interview with Robert Dewar, AdaCore President and Cyrille Comar, AdaCore Managing Director" (PDF). GNAT Pro insider. No. Autumn Winter 2014–2015. AdaCore. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  12. ^ Emmer, Mark B.; Quillen, Edward K. (2000) [1989]. Macro SPITBOL (PDF). Catspaw. p. 159. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  13. ISBN 978-1483266169
    .
  14. ^
    VT-100
    emulator), being marketed by Realia, Inc. R.B.K. Dewar (1982-1983), 8088 assembly language, 8,000 lines […]
  15. S2CID 10586359
    .
  16. ^ "Ada/Ed, an interpreter for Ada 83". Ada Home. 10 February 1998. Archived from the original on 9 December 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  17. Waltham, MA: SofTech, Inc. 11 April 1983. Archived from the original
    on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  18. Ada Information Clearinghouse. 1987. Archived
    from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  19. ^ van Rossum, Guido (8 July 2011). "Karin Dewar, Indentation and the Colon". The History of Python. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  20. ^ "The Mikado opens" (Press release). Village Light Opera Group. 2008.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ The Dewar Center Handbook (PDF). Village Light Opera Group. 2008. p. 2.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "Sad news of Prof. Robert Dewar". New York University. June 2015. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  23. Ziff-Davis Publishing. January 1983. p. 417. Archived
    from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  24. EXEPACK
    […]
  25. ^ Necasek, Michal (30 April 2018). "Realia SpaceMaker". OS/2 Museum. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  26. ^ Parsons, Jeff (10 January 2019). "An Update on Early Norton Utilities". PCjs. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  27. ^ Necasek, Michal (12 January 2019). "Yep, Norton Did It". OS/2 Museum. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.

External links

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