Robert M. Frankston (born June 14, 1949) is an American software engineer and businessman who co-created, with

Dan Bricklin Daniel Singer Bricklin (born July 16, 1951) is an American businessman and engineer who is the co-creator, with Bob Frankston, of the VisiCalc spreadsheet program. He also founded Software Garden, Inc., of which he is currently president, and Trel ...

, the

VisiCalc VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by VisiCorp on 17 October 1979. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hob ...

spreadsheet program. Frankston is also the co-founder of

Software Arts Software Arts was a software company founded by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston in 1979 to develop VisiCalc VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by ...

Early life and education

Frankston was born and raised in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He graduated from

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1966. He earned a S.B degree in computer science and mathematics from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, followed by a Master of Engineering degree computer science, also from MIT.

Career

Following his work with Dan Bricklin, Frankston later worked at

Lotus Development Corporation Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) was an American software company based in Massachusetts; it was "offloaded" to India's HCL Technologies in 2018. Lotus is most commonly known for the Lotus 1-2- ...

and

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

. Frankston became an outspoken advocate for reducing the role of telecommunications companies in the evolution of the Internet, particularly with respect to broadband and mobile communications. He coined the term "Regulatorium" to describe what he considers collusion between telecommunication companies and their regulators that prevents change.

Awards and recognition

Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

(1994) "for the invention of VisiCalc, a new metaphor for data manipulation that galvanized the personal computing industry" * MIT William L. Stewart Award for co-founding the M.I.T.

Student Information Processing Board The Student Information Processing Board (SIPB) is a student group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that helps students access computing resources and use them effectively. History SIPB was founded in 1969 by Bob Frankston, Gary ...

(SIPB). * The Association for Computing Machinery Software System Award (1985) * The MIT LCS Industrial Achievement Award * The Washington Award (2001) from the

Western Society of Engineers The Western Society of Engineers is a professional and educational organization founded in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on May 25, 1869 as the Civil Engineers' Club of the Northwest. In 1880 the club was incorporated as the Western Society of Engineers. ...

(with Bricklin) * In 2004, he was made a Fellow of the

Computer History Museum The Computer History Museum (CHM) is a museum of computer history, located in Mountain View, California. The museum presents stories and artifacts of Silicon Valley and the information age, and explores the computing revolution and its impact on ...

"for advancing the utility of personal computers by developing the VisiCalc electronic spreadsheet."

References

External links

Bob Frankston's site/blogBiographical article
from ''Smart Computing'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frankston, Bob Stuyvesant High School alumni 1949 births Living people People from Brooklyn Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery People from Arlington, Massachusetts