Claud M. Davis (August 23, 1924 – May 5, 2020) was an American engineer, inventor, and employee of the IBM Corporation at

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

. He was known for his contributions to the development of the

IBM System/360 The IBM System/360 (S/360) is a family of mainframe computer systems that was announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and delivered between 1965 and 1978. It was the first family of computers designed to cover both commercial and scientific applica ...

Natalie Boike (2009)
Mainframer Recalls Helping Create the FAA System: IEEE Lifetime Fellow Claud M. Davis shares his experience architecting the System/360
in: ''IBM Systems Magazine'', March 2009. and the development of

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

systems.

Biography

Born in Water Valley, Mississippi, Davis received his BA in electrical engineering in 1950 at

Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Oklahoma State University–Stillwater (officially Oklahoma State University; informally Oklahoma State, OK State, OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma. OSU was founded in 1890 under the Morrill Act. Originall ...

, and his MA in

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...

in 1961 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

.Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1995) ''IEEE Membership Directory''. p. 93 After graduating from Oklahoma State, Davis started working at IBM in Memphis, TN and was relocated to

as an engineer in the mid-1950s. In the late 1950s he was promoted to Staff Engineer. In the 1960s Davis received multiple patents and was among the small group of engineers working under Gene Amdahl and Fred Brooks who designed the architecture for the

System/360 The IBM System/360 (S/360) is a family of mainframe computer systems that was announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and delivered between 1965 and 1978. It was the first family of computers designed to cover both commercial and scientific applica ...

. The IBM System/360 (S/360) was a mainframe computer system family announced by IBM on April 7, 1964 and delivered between 1965 and 1978. It was the first family of computers designed to cover the complete range of applications, from small to large, both commercial and scientific. The design made a clear distinction between

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

and implementation allowing IBM to release a suite of compatible designs at different prices. In the 1970s at IBM Davis became project leader of the development of a computer-aided

system for the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

, which was originally specified at

Lincoln Laboratory The MIT Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a United States Department of Defense federally funded research and development center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Research and dev ...

. In 1989 he retired from IBM after almost 40 years of employment. He died in May 2020 at the age of 95.

Awards

Over the years Davis has received several awards: * 1950.

Eta Kappa Nu Eta Kappa Nu () or IEEE-HKN is the international honor society of the Computer Science and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). "The organization promotes excellence in the profession and in education through an emphasis ...

, Outstanding Senior Award''IEEE Membership Directory'', Vol 1-2. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2001 * 1950. Outstanding Engineering Graduate, Oklahoma State (A&M) * Three Outstanding Contribution Awards, IBM Corporation * 1983. IEEE Life-time Fellow awarded for "contributions to the architecture and development of a large fault-tolerant computer system for air traffic control" Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1984) ''Past to Present: A Century of Honors : the First Years of Award Winners, Honorary Members, Past Presidents, and Fellows of the Institute, Vol 16, Nr 2.'' p. 192 * 1990 Elmer A. Sperry Award with Richard B. Hanrahan, John F. Keeley, and James H. Mollenauer for "the conception, design, development and delivery of the Federal Aviation Administration enroute air traffic control system."The Elmer A. Sperry Award 2002 for advancing the art of transportation
at sperryaward.org. Accessed October 2, 2013. * 1993. IEEE Simon Ramo Medal for "leadership in the pioneering development of computer-aided air traffic control systems."IEEE SIMON RAMO MEDAL RECIPIENTS
ieee.org/documents. Accessed October 2, 2013.

References

External links

IEEE Lifetime Fellow Claud M. Davis shares his experience architecting the System/360
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Claud M. 1924 births 2020 deaths 21st-century American engineers Harvard University alumni IBM employees IBM Fellows Oklahoma State University alumni People from Water Valley, Mississippi