David J. Brown
Encyclopedia
David J. Brown is an American computer scientist
. He was one of a small group that helped to develop the system at Stanford that later resulted in Sun Microsystems, and later was a founder Silicon Graphics
in 1982.
, and then studied at the University of Pennsylvania
, Moore School of Electrical Engineering
where he received a B.S.E. in 1979 and an M.S.E under the tutelage of Ruzena Bajcsy
in 1980.
In 1984, Brown was introduced to David Wheeler who invited him to join the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
as a doctoral candidate. In October 1986 he matriculated at St John's College
, University of Cambridge
, England
to pursue a Ph.D. His dissertation introduced the concept of Unified Memory Architecture. This idea has subsequently been widely applied — most notably by Intel in their processors and platform architecture of the late 1990s and onward.
in 1981, where he helped develop the research edition of the SUN workstation
with Andreas Bechtolsheim, prior to the establishment of Sun Microsystems
.
In 1982, Brown was one of the group of the seven technical staff from Stanford (along with Kurt Akeley
, Tom Davis, Rocky Rhodes, Mark Hannah, Mark Grossman, Charles "Herb" Kuta
) who joined Jim Clark
to form Silicon Graphics
.
Brown and Stephen R. Bourne
formed the Workstation Systems Engineering group at Digital Equipment Corporation
. Together they built the group responsible for the introduction of the DECstation
line of computer systems.
In 1992, Brown joined Sun Microsystems. He helped establish the process used for the company's system software architecture, and then went on to define the application binary interface for Solaris, Sun's principal system software product.
Later, Brown worked on Solaris's adoption of Open Source
software and practices, and then its technologies for energy-efficient computing.
In 1998, Brown was elected to the Council of the Association for Computing Machinery
, and later became a founding editor of the ACM Queue
magazine.
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
. He was one of a small group that helped to develop the system at Stanford that later resulted in Sun Microsystems, and later was a founder Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
in 1982.
Education
Brown received his primary and secondary school education in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and then studied at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Moore School of Electrical Engineering
Moore School of Electrical Engineering
The Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania came into existence as a result of an endowment from Alfred Fitler Moore on June 4, 1923. It was granted to Penn's School of Electrical Engineering, located in the Towne Building...
where he received a B.S.E. in 1979 and an M.S.E under the tutelage of Ruzena Bajcsy
Ruzena Bajcsy
Ružena Bajcsy is an American computer scientist who specializes in robotics. She is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley,, where she is also Director Emerita of CITRIS .She was previously Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at...
in 1980.
In 1984, Brown was introduced to David Wheeler who invited him to join the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
The Computer Laboratory is the computer science department of the University of Cambridge. As of 2007, it employs 35 academic staff, 25 support staff, 35 affiliated research staff, and about 155 research students...
as a doctoral candidate. In October 1986 he matriculated at St John's College
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to pursue a Ph.D. His dissertation introduced the concept of Unified Memory Architecture. This idea has subsequently been widely applied — most notably by Intel in their processors and platform architecture of the late 1990s and onward.
Career
Brown became a member of the research staff in the Computer Science Department at Stanford UniversityStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1981, where he helped develop the research edition of the SUN workstation
SUN workstation
The original SUN workstation was a modular computer system designed at Stanford University in the early 1980s.-History:The project name was derived from Stanford University Network, the campus network within Stanford....
with Andreas Bechtolsheim, prior to the establishment of Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
.
In 1982, Brown was one of the group of the seven technical staff from Stanford (along with Kurt Akeley
Kurt Akeley
Kurt Akeley is a computer graphics engineer.-Biography:Kurt Akeley received a B.E.E. from the University of Delaware in 1980, and an M.S.E.E. from Stanford University in 1982...
, Tom Davis, Rocky Rhodes, Mark Hannah, Mark Grossman, Charles "Herb" Kuta
Charles Kuta
Charles Stanley "Herb" Kuta is an American electronics engineer and software engineer who was a co-founder of Silicon Graphics, a major graphics workstation manufacturer.Charles Kuta was brought up in Pennsylvania, USA...
) who joined Jim Clark
James H. Clark
James H. Clark is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Inc., Netscape Communications Corporation, myCFO and Healtheon...
to form Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
.
Brown and Stephen R. Bourne
Stephen R. Bourne
Steve Bourne is a computer scientist, originally from the United Kingdom and based in the US for most of his career. He is most famous as the author of the Bourne shell , which is the foundation for the standard command line interfaces to Unix....
formed the Workstation Systems Engineering group at Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
. Together they built the group responsible for the introduction of the DECstation
DECstation
The DECstation was a brand of computers used by DEC, and refers to three distinct lines of computer systems—the first released in 1978 as a word processing system, and the latter two both released in 1989. These comprised a range of computer workstations based on the MIPS architecture and a...
line of computer systems.
In 1992, Brown joined Sun Microsystems. He helped establish the process used for the company's system software architecture, and then went on to define the application binary interface for Solaris, Sun's principal system software product.
Later, Brown worked on Solaris's adoption of Open Source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
software and practices, and then its technologies for energy-efficient computing.
In 1998, Brown was elected to the Council of the Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
, and later became a founding editor of the ACM Queue
ACM Queue
ACM Queue is a computer magazine published by the Association for Computing Machinery . Steve Bourne helped found the magazine when he was President of the ACM and he is now Chair of the Advisory Board. The magazine is produced by computing professionals and is intended for computing professionals...
magazine.