August Dvorak (May 5, 1894 – October 10, 1975) was an American educational psychologist and professor of education at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. He and his brother-in-law,

William Dealey Dvorak is a keyboard layout for English patented in 1936 by August Dvorak and his brother-in-law, William Dealey, as a faster and more ergonomic alternative to the QWERTY layout (the ''de facto'' standard keyboard layout). Dvorak proponents c ...

, are best known for creating the

Dvorak keyboard layout Dvorak is a keyboard layout for English patented in 1936 by August Dvorak and his brother-in-law, William Dealey, as a faster and more ergonomic alternative to the QWERTY layout (the ''de facto'' standard keyboard layout). Dvorak proponents c ...

in the 1930s as a replacement for the

QWERTY QWERTY () is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top left letter row of the keyboard ( ). The QWERTY design is based on a layout created f ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

layout. In the 1940s, Dvorak designed keyboard layouts for people with the use of one hand. Dvorak and Dealey, together with

Nellie Merrick Nelly (born 1974) is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. Nelly or Nellie may also refer to: Places * Nellie, Ohio, an American village * Nellie, Assam, a town in Nagaon district * Nelly Island, Antarctica * Nelly Island, Bermud ...

and

Gertrude Ford Gertrude or Gertrud may refer to: Places In space *Gertrude (crater), a crater on Uranus's moon Titania *710 Gertrud, a minor planet Terrestrial placenames *Gertrude, Arkansas *Gertrude, Washington * Gertrude, West Virginia People *Gertrude (gi ...

, wrote the book ''

Typewriting Behavior {{italic title ''Typewriting Behavior'' is a book by August Dvorak, Nellie Merrick, William Dealey and Gertrude Ford. It was published in 1936 by the American Book Company. It is currently out of print but can be found in most major libraries. ...

'', published in 1936. The book is an in-depth report on the psychology and physiology of

typing Typing is the process of writing or inputting text by pressing keys on a typewriter, computer keyboard, mobile phone or calculator. It can be distinguished from other means of text input, such as handwriting and speech recognition. Text can b ...

. Dvorak served with the American Army Field Artillery during the punitive expedition against Pancho Villa and was wounded during the campaign. Afterward he was discharged and enlisted in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

, teaching mathematics and navigation until World War I, during which he served aboard the captured German privateer USS ''Callao'' bringing troops home until his discharge in 1919. Later, he was the captain of a ''Gato''-class submarine in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. While his name is pronounced , with the ''ř'' roughly as a simultaneous trilled and due to him being of Czech descent, Dvorak's family in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

pronounces it , with an English ''r.'' Dvorak died in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

on October 10, 1975.

References

External links

Photograph: August Dvorak and typing class at University of Washington, Seattle
(November 14, 1932)
Dvorak Keyboard ClaimsDvorak Keyboard MagazineDvorak keyboard layout, Spanish variant
1894 births 1975 deaths American people of Czech descent University of Washington faculty United States Navy officers Submariners People from Glencoe, Minnesota Military personnel from Minnesota {{educationist-stub