Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

John Vincent Atanasoff
     
         John Vincent Atanasoff, 1903-10-04 - 1995-06-15.  An
        American mathemetical physicist, and the inventor of the
        electronic {digital computer}.  Between 1937 and 1942 he built
        the {Atanasoff-Berry Computer} with {Clifford Berry}, at the
        {Iowa State University}.
     
        Atanasoff was born on 1903-10-04 in Hamilton, New York.  In
        1925, he got a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical
        Engineering from the University of Florida.  In 1926 he
        received a Master's degree in Maths from Iowa State
        University.  He received a PhD as a theoretical physicist from
        the University of Wisconsin in 1930.
     
        While an associate professor of mathematics and physics at
        Iowa State University, Atanasoff began to envision a {digital}
        computational device, believing {analogue} devices to be too
        restrictive.  Whilst working on his electronic {digital
        computer}, Atanasoff was introduced to a graduate student
        named {Clifford Berry}, who helped him build the {computer}.
     
        The first prototype of the {Atanasoff-Berry Computer} was
        demonstrated in December 1939.  Although no patent was awarded
        for the new {computer}, in 1973 US District Judge Earl R.
        Larson declared Atanasoff the inventor of the digital computer
        (declaring the {ENIAC} patent invalid).
     
        Atanasoff was awarded the National Medal of {Technology} by US
        President Bush on 1990-11-13.  He died following a stroke on
        1995-06-15.
     
        {John Vincent Atanasoff and the Birth of the Digital Computer
        (http://www.cs.iastate.edu/jva/jva-archive.shtml)}.
     
        ["Atanasoff Forgotten Father of the Computer", C. R.
        Mollenhoff, Iowa State University Press 1988].
     
        (2001-10-03)