James Tice Ellis (May 6, 1956June 28, 2001) was an American
computer scientist
A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science.
Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...
best known as the co-creator of
Usenet
Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...
, along with
Tom Truscott
Tom Truscott is an American computer scientist best known for creating Usenet with Jim Ellis, when both were graduate students at Duke University. He is also a member of ACM, IEEE, and Sigma Xi. One of his first endeavors into computers was ...
.
Ellis was born in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
to Henry Ellis (an auditor and teacher) and Elsa Ellis. James Ellis grew up in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
. Before developing Usenet, Ellis attended
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
. After graduating, Ellis worked for the
Microelectronics Center of North Carolina in Research Triangle Park, N.C. He later worked as an Internet security consultant for
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
. He was also Manager of Technical Development at
CERT. He came up with the word ''Usenet''.
Ellis and Truscott were awarded the 1995
USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award.
Personal life and death
Ellis and his wife, Carolyn, had two children.
He died of
non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredness. ...
, a form of blood cancer, at his home in
Harmony, Pennsylvania
Harmony is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 890 at the 2010 census. It is located approximately north of Pittsburgh.
Geography
Harmony is located in southwestern Butler County, along the northeastern ...
on June 28, 2001. He was 45.
References
External links
Usenet creator Jim Ellis dies ''
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
, on
USAToday.com'', June 29, 2001, retrieved on December 22, 2006.
Second Annual EFF Pioneer Awards
1956 births
2001 deaths
People from Nashville, Tennessee
Duke University alumni
American computer scientists
Usenet people
Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
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