Jacob E. Goldman

Jacob E. Goldman, the former Xerox chief scientist who created the company's famed Palo Alto Research Center, whose scientists and engineers invented the modern personal computer in the 1970s and developed an array of other pioneering computing technologies, has died. He was 90.

Mr. Goldman, of Westport, Conn., died Tuesday at a hospital in nearby Stamford after a short illness, his son Melvin said.

A physicist, Mr. Goldman had been the head of the research and development laboratory at Ford Motor Co. before joining Xerox, then based in Rochester, N.Y., as chief scientist in late 1967.

As chief scientist responsible for overseeing all of the company's research, Mr. Goldman quickly focused his attention on new technologies.

Using AT&T's Bell Laboratories as a model, he sketched out the Palo Alto Research Center that opened near Stanford University in 1970.

Xerox PARC researchers went on to invent the modern personal computer, the laser printer, Windows-style computing displays and the Ethernet. They also played an important role in the development of the Internet.