Verzuh, Frank M.

Person

Staff Only

Dates

Existence: - 2000-10-10

Biography

Frank M. Verzuh (SB, 1940, University of Denver; SM, 1946, ScD, 1952, MIT) was a research assistant, research associate, and Instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He came to MIT in 1940 as a staff member in the Center for Analysis, which was part of the Department of Electrical Engineering. In 1950 he became Director of Statistical Services and set up computing equipment to automate solutions to administrative and scientific problems within MIT. From 1956 to 1960, Verzuh was assistant director of the MIT Computation Center, concurrently serving as Director of Operations of the IBM 704 EDP machine.

Throughout his career at MIT, in addition to teaching courses in electrical engineering, Verzuh designed and constructed components for analog and digital computers and learned to apply analog and digital equipment to the solution of business and engineering problems. Among Verzuh’s research interests were the Rapid Arithmetic Machine (RAM) and the Rockefeller Electronic Computer (REC).

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Frank M. Verzuh papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MC-0652

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The collection contains glass lantern slides related to the Rockefeller Differential Analyzer (RDA) and the Rapid Arithmetic Machine (RAM), photographs, miscellaneous correspondence and notes, publications, patents, reports, and a manuscript titled “Memoirs of My Computing and Teaching Experiences.”

Dates: circa 1945-1989

Found in: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computation Center records

Collection

Identifier: AC-0062

Abstract This set of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computation Center records spans the years 1950-1962 and documents the genesis of the Computation Center and its eventual transformation into the Information Processing Center. The Computation Center housed one of the first high-speed digital computers built by IBM with technology developed at MIT in Project Whirlwind. The purpose of the Center was to provide a means to educate faculty and students in the use of high-speed digital...

Dates: 1950 - 1962