Robert William Doran HFNZCS (5 November 1944 – 13 October 2018) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-based

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 ...

and historian of computing. He was Professor Emeritus of

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. Robert W. Doran studied at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

(New Zealand) and for a master's degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

(California, United States) in 1967. He taught at City University (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England) and

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

(

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

, New Zealand). He first worked with computers in 1963. He was a Principal Computer Architect at

Amdahl Corporation Amdahl Corporation was an information technology company which specialized in IBM mainframe-compatible computer products, some of which were regarded as supercomputers competing with those from Cray Research. Founded in 1970 by Gene Amdahl, a for ...

(

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north ...

, California) during 1976–1982. He joined the Department of Computer Science at the University of Auckland in 1982 and was Head of department. He maintained computing history displays in the department, especially of

totalisator A tote board (or totalisator/totalizator) is a numeric or alphanumeric display used to convey information, typically at a race track (to display the odds or payoffs for each horse) or at a telethon (to display the total amount donated to the chari ...

s. The history displays are now part of The Bob Doran Museum of Computing. Doran's research interests included

computer architecture In computer engineering, computer architecture is a description of the structure of a computer system made from component parts. It can sometimes be a high-level description that ignores details of the implementation. At a more detailed level, t ...

parallel algorithm In computer science, a parallel algorithm, as opposed to a traditional serial algorithm, is an algorithm which can do multiple operations in a given time. It has been a tradition of computer science to describe serial algorithms in abstract machin ...

s, and

computer programming Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as ana ...

. He was also interested in the

history of computing The history of computing is longer than the history of computing hardware and modern computing technology and includes the history of methods intended for pen and paper or for chalk and slate, with or without the aid of tables. Concrete devices ...

. In 2017, he contributed to ''

The Turing Guide ''The Turing Guide'', written by Jack Copeland, Jonathan Bowen, Mark Sprevak, Robin Wilson, and others and published in 2017, is a book about the work and life of the British mathematician, philosopher, and early computer scientist, Alan Turi ...

''. Robert Doran was made an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

of the

New Zealand Computer Society The Institute of IT Professionals (IITP) is a non-profit incorporated society in New Zealand. As New Zealand's ICT professional body, the IITP exists to promote education and ensure a high level of professional practice amongst ICT professional ...

, now the

Institute of IT Professionals The Institute of IT Professionals (IITP) is a non-profit incorporated society in New Zealand. As New Zealand's ICT professional body, the IITP exists to promote education and ensure a high level of professional practice amongst ICT professional ...

. Bob Doran died on 13 October 2018 at home in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Selected publications

* Carpenter, B. E. & Doran, R. W. (1977). The other Turing machine. ''

The Computer Journal ''The Computer Journal'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering computer science and information systems. Established in 1958, it is one of the oldest computer science research journals. It is published by Oxford University Press on beha ...

'', 20(3):269–279. * Doran, R. W. (1977). Computer Architecture: A Structured Approach.

Academic Press Academic Press (AP) is an academic book publisher founded in 1941. It was acquired by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1969. Reed Elsevier bought Harcourt in 2000, and Academic Press is now an imprint of Elsevier. Academic Press publishes reference ...

, 1979. * Doran, R. W. & Thomas, L. K. (1980). Variants of the software solution to mutual exclusion. ''

Information Processing Letters ''Information Processing Letters'' is a peer reviewed scientific journal in the field of computer science, published by Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its ...

'', 10(4/5):206–208, July. * Carpenter, B. E. & Doran, R. W. (1986). ''AM Turing's ACE Report of 1946 and Other Papers'', Vol. 10, Charles Babbage Institute Reprint Series for the History of Computing,

MIT Press The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962. History The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publish ...

. * Doran, R. W. (1988). Variants of an improved carry look-ahead adder. ''

IEEE Transactions on Computers ''IEEE Transactions on Computers'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of computer design. It was established in 1952 and is published by the IEEE Computer Society. The editor-in-chief is Ahmed Louri, David and Mari ...

'', 37(9):1110–1113. * Doran, R. W. (1988). Amdahl Multiple-Domain Architecture. ''

Computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

'', 21(10):20–28. * Thomborson, C. D. & Doran, R. W. (2005). Incredible Codes. In A. Brook (ed.), ''Incredible Science: Explore the Wonderful World of Science'' (pp. 16–17). New Zealand:

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Journal of Universal Computer Science The ''Journal of Universal Computer Science'' (''J.UCS'') is a monthly peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal covering all aspects of computer science. History The journal was established in 1994 and is published by the J.UCS Consortium ...

'', 1(3):176–194. * Doran, R. W. (2005). Computer architecture and the ACE computers. In B. J. Copeland (ed.), ''Alan Turing's Automatic Computing Engine'' (pp. 193–206). Oxford:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. * Doran, R. W. (2007). The Gray code. ''Journal of Universal Computer Science'', 13(11):1573–1597. * Doran, R. W. (2007)
The First Automatic Totalisator
''

The Rutherford Journal Brian John Copeland (born 1950) is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, and author of books on the computing pioneer Alan Turing. Education Copeland was educated at the University of Oxford, obta ...

'', 2. * Carpenter, B. E. & Doran, R. W. (2014). John Womersley: Applied Mathematician and Pioneer of Modern Computing. ''

IEEE Annals of the History of Computing The ''IEEE Annals of the History of Computing'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the IEEE Computer Society. It covers the history of computing, computer science, and computer hardware. It was founded in 1979 by the AFIP ...

'', 36(2):60–70. Doran is also a listed inventor on the following US patents assigned to

: 4503512 (1985), 4967342 (1990), 5109522 (1992).

References

External links

Emeritus Professor Bob Doran home page
via

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Bob Doran personal home page
via

1944 births 2018 deaths People from Auckland University of Canterbury alumni Stanford University alumni New Zealand computer scientists Historians of technology Academics of City, University of London Massey University faculty University of Auckland faculty {{NewZealand-bio-stub