| 1 | Name: | Mr. Kenneth H. Olsen | |
| Institution: | Advanced Modular Solutions, Inc. | ||
| Year Elected: | 1999 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 103. Engineering | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1926 | ||
| Death Date: | February 6, 2011 | ||
Kenneth Olsen was well known as the cofounder of Digital Equipment Corporation. Under his leadership, DEC produced the first small interactive computer, the PDP-1 in 1960, the first mass produced minicomputer, the PDP-8 in the late 1960's, and the popular 32-bit VAX computer line in 1977. The VAX immediately became the "workhorse" of the research community. Early in his career as a post World War II graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he developed basic circuits for driving the first magnetic core memories, for which he was recognized by induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Dr. Olsen served on the President's Science Advisory Committee and the Computer Science and Engineering Board of the National Academy of Sciences. He received an M.S.E.E. from M.I.T. (1952) and was a member of the National Academy of Engineering; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Ken Olsen died February 6, 2011, at the age of 84. | |||