C. Gordon Bell was an electrical engineer who worked on some of the world’s first small-profile computers and, as a result, helped usher in the era of the home PC.
- Died: May 17, 2024 (Who else died on May 17?)
- Details of death: Died in Coronado, California of aspiration pneumonia at the age of 89.
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C. Gordon Bell’s legacy
Missouri-born C. Gordon Bell got experience working with tech at an early age, repairing appliances with the family business, Bell Electric. After getting his degree from MIT, he went to work for Digital Equipment Corporation, where he designed the first commercially successful minicomputer. At the time, computers were massive devices that could fill entire rooms, but Bell’s efforts set the stage for the home computer revolution of the 1980s and beyond.
In the 1990s, Bell moved on to Microsoft as a senior advisor. At various points in his career, he also taught at MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, and elsewhere. He founded Encore Computer, was a founding member of Ardent Computer, established the ACM Gordon Bell Prize, and co-founded The Computer Museum in Boston.
In 1992, Bell became the inaugural recipient of the IEEE John von Neumann Medal, and he was granted a National Medal of Technology by President George H.W. Bush (1924–2018). He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and American Association for the Advancement of Science, among others, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Bell also coauthored at least six books on computer design.
Tributes to C. Gordon Bell
Full obituary: The New York Times
