Jerre Noe (February 1, 1923 – November 12, 2005) was an American computer scientist. In the 1950s, he led the technical team for the ERMA project, the

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...

's first venture into computerized banking. In 1968 he became the first chair of 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 Seattl ...

's Computer Science Group, which later evolved into the Computer Science and Engineering Department.(bad link)

Early life and education

Noe was born in

McCloud, California McCloud is a small town and census-designated place (CDP) in Siskiyou County, California, Siskiyou County, California, United States. Its population is 945 as of the 2020 census, down from 1,101 from the 2010 census. Commerce and tourism Locat ...

. He received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in electrical engineering from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Stationed in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

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 opposing ...

, he conducted research and development related to

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

, before returning to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

to complete a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in electrical engineering at Stanford University.

Career

During the 1950s, Noe served as the assistant director of Engineering at Stanford Research Institute (now

SRI International SRI International (SRI) is an American nonprofit scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The trustees of Stanford University established SRI in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic ...

), during which time he led the technical team for the

Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting ERMA (Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting) was a computer technology that automated bank bookkeeping and check processing. Developed at the nonprofit research institution SRI International under contract from Bank of America, the project be ...

(ERMA) project. Noe and the ERMA team were honored by SRI in 2001 with the Weldon B. Gibson Achievement Award for their work. In 1968 he was recruited by the

to chair its newly founded Computer Science Group, a role in which he continued until 1976. Initially, this was mainly a graduate department but in 1975 it introduced a baccalaureate program. In the early 1980s, Noe directed the Eden Project, the first recipient of the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

's Coordinated Experimental Research Program award, which brought U.W. into the first rank of Computer Science departments.

Retirement

After retirement from the department in 1989, Noe continued a very active life until 2005. He remained active in his department as a professor emeritus and in other aspects of his life; in his late seventies, he and his wife trekked approximately 100 miles (160 km) across the Basque Country. He was also an avid

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

and

skier Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

into his eighties.

Personal life

Jerre Noe married Mary Ward in 1943. They had three children: Sherill, Jeffrey and Russell. Mary Noe died of cancer in 1982. Jerre married Margarete Wöhlert in 1983. On November 12, 2005, Noe died from peritoneal mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos that attacks the lining of the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...

. He was 82 years old.

References

External links

Obituary
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''
Jerre Noe at legacy.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noe, Jerre 1923 births 2005 deaths American computer scientists University of California, Berkeley alumni Stanford University alumni University of Washington faculty Deaths from mesothelioma SRI International people