Roy Nutt
Encyclopedia
Roy Nutt was an American businessman and computer
pioneer who co-founded Computer Sciences Corporation
and was a co-creator of FORTRAN
.
Born in Marlborough, Massachusetts
, Roy Nutt grew up in Glastonbury, Connecticut
. He graduated in 1953 with a bachelor's degree
in mathematics
from Trinity College
in Hartford
. A pioneer in the fledgling software industry of the 1950s, Roy Nutt was a major contributor in the creation of IBM's
FORTRAN
, the first high-level scientific and engineering programming language. Part of the FORTRAN project's team, he was responsible for developing the computer command FORMAT
, which controls data for input and output. Nutt also created an assembler for the IBM 704 mainframe that is today seen as the most successful individual programming effort of the 1950s. During this period, Roy Nutt met Fletcher Jones
when he joined with nineteen others from the aerospace industry to form an IBM user group known as SHARE which developed its own operating system known as SOS
. Jones, as Secretary of the group, became its national spokesman and their working relationship would later result in a business partnership.
Roy Nutt had become a widely respected computer programmer for United Aircraft Corp.
in East Hartford, Connecticut
when he left in 1959 to team up with Fletcher Jones to establish Computer Sciences Corporation
(CSC) in Los Angeles
. Jones, who ran the business and marketing end of things, obtained a contract from Honeywell
that gave their business profitability and respect within the industry. Nutt was responsible for building Honeywell the first commercial compiler
and oversaw the company's major 1961 entry into the space industry when they obtained a contract to support the NASA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory's
Flight Operations Facility. Within four years of its founding, CSC became the largest software company in the United States. Taking their business public
with an IPO
listed on the American Stock Exchange
. By the end of the 1960s, CSC was listed on the New York Stock Exchange
and had operations in Canada
, the United Kingdom
, Germany
, Italy
, and in The Netherlands.
In later years, Roy Nutt used some of his wealth to benefit Trinity College. He set up an endowment fund for a professorship and donated money to assist in the construction of the college's engineering and computing building.
Roy Nutt died of lung cancer
in Seattle, Washington
on June 14, 1990.
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
pioneer who co-founded Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...
and was a co-creator of FORTRAN
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
.
Born in Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,499 at the 2010 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the late 20th century after the construction of the...
, Roy Nutt grew up in Glastonbury, Connecticut
Glastonbury, Connecticut
Glastonbury is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, founded in 1693. The population was 31,876 at the 2000 census. The town was named after Glastonbury in Somerset, England. Glastonbury is located on the banks of the Connecticut River, 7 miles southeast of Hartford. The town...
. He graduated in 1953 with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
from Trinity College
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...
in Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
. A pioneer in the fledgling software industry of the 1950s, Roy Nutt was a major contributor in the creation of IBM's
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
FORTRAN
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
, the first high-level scientific and engineering programming language. Part of the FORTRAN project's team, he was responsible for developing the computer command FORMAT
File format
A file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for...
, which controls data for input and output. Nutt also created an assembler for the IBM 704 mainframe that is today seen as the most successful individual programming effort of the 1950s. During this period, Roy Nutt met Fletcher Jones
Fletcher R. Jones
Fletcher Roseberry Jones was an American businessman, computer pioneer and thoroughbred racehorse owner.Born in Bryan, Texas, he was the third of three children of an impoverished Depression era family. He graduated from Allen Military Academy in 1949, then studied at university for two years but...
when he joined with nineteen others from the aerospace industry to form an IBM user group known as SHARE which developed its own operating system known as SOS
SHARE Operating System
The SHARE Operating System, also known as SOS, was created in 1959 as an improvement on the General Motors GM-NAA I/O operating system, the first operating system, by the SHARE user group...
. Jones, as Secretary of the group, became its national spokesman and their working relationship would later result in a business partnership.
Roy Nutt had become a widely respected computer programmer for United Aircraft Corp.
United Aircraft and Transport Corporation
The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed in 1929, when William Boeing of the Boeing firms teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney to form a large, amalgamated firm, uniting business interests in all aspects of aviation—a combination of aircraft engine and airframe...
in East Hartford, Connecticut
East Hartford, Connecticut
East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,252 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
when he left in 1959 to team up with Fletcher Jones to establish Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...
(CSC) in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Jones, who ran the business and marketing end of things, obtained a contract from Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
that gave their business profitability and respect within the industry. Nutt was responsible for building Honeywell the first commercial compiler
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
and oversaw the company's major 1961 entry into the space industry when they obtained a contract to support the NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Jet Propulsion Laboratory's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
Flight Operations Facility. Within four years of its founding, CSC became the largest software company in the United States. Taking their business public
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
with an IPO
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
listed on the American Stock Exchange
American Stock Exchange
NYSE Amex Equities, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange is an American stock exchange situated in New York. AMEX was a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known as the New York Curb Exchange. On January 17, 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it would acquire the...
. By the end of the 1960s, CSC was listed on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
and had operations in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and in The Netherlands.
In later years, Roy Nutt used some of his wealth to benefit Trinity College. He set up an endowment fund for a professorship and donated money to assist in the construction of the college's engineering and computing building.
Roy Nutt died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
on June 14, 1990.