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ALAN J.
PERLIS
1 922-1 990
BY FERNANDO J. CORBATO
ALAN ~ PERLIS one of the leading figures in the development
of modern computer science, diec! of a heart attack on February
7, 1990, in New Haven, Connecticut, at the age of sixty-seven.
Perlis was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in
1977. As one of the pioneers in establishing the fledgling disci-
pline of computer science, Perlis made several seminal contribu-
tions. He played a major role in establishing the preeminent
computer science department at the Carnegie Institute of Tech-
nology (now Carnegie Mellon University). He was a leader in the
development of early algebraic languages and was a forceful
member of the international committee that formulated the
influential ALGOL-60 language. He helped establish the Asso-
ciation for Computing Machinery (ACM) as an effective profes-
sional societywhile he served as an early president from 1962 to
1964. He also served as the founding editor of the Communica-
tions of the A CM (CACM). The common themes throughout all
these activities were his great personal impact, his verve in
articulating the core of an argument, the pithiness of his re-
marks, and the courage of his convictions.
Perlis was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 1,1922.
He received a B.S. in chemistry in 1942 from the Carnegie
Institute of Technology. From 1942 to 1945 he served in the U.S.
Army Air Force. He received an M.S. and a Ph.D. from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1949 and 1950,
167
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168
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
respectively. In 1948-1949 he was a research mathematician with
Project Whirlwind at MIT. He was a mathematical adviser with
the multimachine computing laboratory of the Aberdeen Prov-
ing Grounds, Maryland, in 1951-1952. In 1952 he returned
again to Project Whirlwind at MIT where he remained until
becoming an assistant professor at Purdue University in Septem-
ber 1952.
At Purdue, Perlis formed and headed the institution's first
digital computer laboratory. In 1955 he organized the pioneer-
ing development of the IT (Internal Translator) language com-
piler, initially on the Datatron 205.
In 1956 Perlis became an associate professor of mathematics
at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and director of the
computation center. By November 1956 a version of the IT
compiler was operating on the IBM 650, and Perlis with his
coworkers went on to develop a succession of algebraic language
compilers and assemblers.
In 1960 Perlis was appointed as professor and chairman of the
mathematics department at Carnegie Tech while continuing as
director ofthe computation center. By 1962 he became codirector
of a graduate program in systems and communication, and in
1965 he became the first head of a graduate department of
computer science at Carnegie Tech. During the academic year
1965-1966, Perlis was a visiting professor at the Mathematische
Centrum at Amsterdam, Holland. By the late 1960s the com-
puter science department at Carnegie Tech was viewed as one of
the top departments in the country.
In 1971 Perlis was persuaded to join the newly established
(1969) computer science department at Yale University and
become the Eugene Higgins Professor of Computer Science. He
played a leading role in building the department and developing
innovative computer science courses. He took major responsi-
bility for teaching both at the undergraduate introductory level
and at the graduate level. He was department chairman in 1976-
1977 and 1978-1979, and acting chairman in 1987. In 1977-
1978 Perlis spent the academic year as the Gordon and Betty
Moore Professor of Computer Science at the California Institute
of Technology.
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ALAN J. PERLIS
169
Although Perlis's interests in computer science were extraor-
dinarily broad, he maintained throughout his career a focus on
programming languages. In 1958 Perlis with K. Samelson coau-
thored the ALGOL-58 report, a first international attempt to
develop an algebraic programming language. He was a member
of the subsequent committee that published the widely studied
and influential ALGOL-60 report. During the 1960s, Perlis was
involved in the definition of extensions to ALGOL, such as
Formula ALGOL for manipulating formal mathematical ex-
pressions, and LCC, a form of ALGOL for interactive incremen-
tal programming.
Throughout his career Perlis was a frequent invited lecturer
around the globe. He wrote dozens of papers and two books,
some individually, some with others, on a variety of topics
ranging from the virtues of particular programming languages,
and the process of software engineering, to addressing basic
questions such as "What is Computer Science?" His publications
always got the attention of his peers for he never failed to make
an interesting point and expressed himself with vigor.
Perlis was not content to be a builder of two important
computer science departments and a leader in the design and
study of new computer languages; as mentioned previously, he
also played a major role in the formation of the ACM and was the
founding editor of the Communications of the ACM. In 1966, in
recognition of his research and scholarship in computer sci-
ence, Perlis was the first recipient of the A. M. Turing Award, the
highest award of the ACM.
Perlis had great impact on the discipline of modern computer
science as it emerged. He received honorary doctor of science
degrees from Davis and Elkins College, Purdue University, Wa-
terloo University, and Sacred Heart University. In 1974 he was
elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in
1984 he received the AFIPS Education Award of the American
Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS).
In his work for the National Research Council, Perlis served
on the Assembly ~ 1979-1981 ~ and Computational Mechanics
Committee ~ 1981-1985) of the Assembly of Engineering, on the
Commission (1982-1984) and the Board on Telecommunica-
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
tions/Computer Applications (1987-1989) of the Commission
on Engineering and Technical Systems, ant! on the National
Research Network Review Committee ( 1988-1989) of the Com-
mission of Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources.
Everyone who knew Perlis will realize that the above formal
recounting of his career leaves out a crucial aspect. He was a
warm and enthusiastic man, with a quick wit and a wonderful
ability to turn a phrase or capture the core of an idea. Itwas a rare
committee where he clicT not make his presence felt by all. He
could both persuade and inspire others about the wisdom of
following technical paths, and he did it not only by his forceful-
ness and rational analysis but also by his shrewd use of humor. He
was famous for his "one-liners" that epigrammatically made a
technical point. His friends used to argue about which one they
liked best and compile lists to circulate. For example, he noted
the wide disparity of talent among programmers and the near-
genius of the elite:
Everyone can be taught to sculpt; Michelangelo would have had to
be taught how not to. So it is with great programmers.
Similarly, while acknowledging the value of the research process,
he gently mocked the limited accomplishments of contempo-
rary programs that emulate learning:
When we write programs that 'learn,' it turns out we do and
they don't.
Perlis in his later years was confined to a wheelchair. He
brooked no concern for his condition and, with the help of his
devoted wife, Sydelle, maintained an active career et Yale Univer-
sity during the academic years and at Xerox Palo Alto Research
Center each summer. He will be remembered for his courage
and zest for life as much as for his technical and leadership
accomplishments.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
science department
