Douglas Engelbart

Douglas Engelbart is an American inventor who helped create several components of the modern computer.http://www.dougengelbart.org/about/dce-bio.html He invented the first computer mouse and headed a team at Stanford Research Institute (now called SRI International) that lead the way in several other areas such as hypertexting, network computing and graphical user interfaces.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html For his achievements over the years, Engelbart has won several awards, including the American Ingenuity Award, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-Lemelson Prize, Turing Award, the National Medal of Technology, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal.http://www.dougengelbart.org/about/awards.html

Engelbart founded The Doug Engelbart Institute, which aimed to increase what he called the "collective IQ" and help society tackle its problems.http://www.dougengelbart.org/about/collective-iq.html Engelbart hoped that the internet would help with the formation of online communities that could find solutions to these problems.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQx-tuW9A4Q The institution has worked with SRI International, Sun Labs, New Media Consortium and the Internet Archive to collate media that complements the Computer History Museum and Stanford University Libraries' Special Collections.http://www.dougengelbart.org/projects/projects.html

Douglas Engelbart was raised during the Great Depression on a small farmstead near Portland, Oregon.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html He graduated high school in 1942 and went on to study at Oregon State University.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html His studies were interrupted by a two-year stint in the Philippines during World War II.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html He returned to the United States and completed his bachelor of science in electrical engineering in 1948.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html After graduating, Engelbart took a position with the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), which was a precursor to the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA).http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html

It was in 1951 that Engelbart got engaged and started thinking seriously about his future.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQx-tuW9A4Q He decided to focus on studying computers, and the impact they could have on society.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQx-tuW9A4Q He chose to study at University of California, Berkley, because it was one of the only universities with a research and development program that focused on the digital computer.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQx-tuW9A4Q At Berkley, Engelbart gained his Ph.D and was credited with several patents.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html After graduating, he remained at the school as an assistant professor but left for Stanford Reseach Institute (SRI) once he realized that his opinions on computers were not respected at Berkley.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQx-tuW9A4Q

In 1959, after two years at Stanford, Engelbart had another dozen patents and was getting approval to pursue his own research.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html#1 This led to the 1962 release of his seminal work "Augmenting the Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework", in which Engelbart outlined his theory on the future of the computer and its role in society.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html#1

This led to more interest in Engelbart's work, and, in 1963, he was given the funds to open his own research facility: the Augmentation Research Center (ARC).http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html#1 The team at ARC developed many computer firsts, including the mouse, and became one of the first members of the original internet.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html#Firsts

Engelbart gave the world's first video teleconference at the 1968 Fall Joint Computer Conference.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html#1 In what later be known as "the mother of all demos", Engelbart appeared on a 20-foot screen giving the first public demonstration of the mouse and hypermedia.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html

Over the next 20 years, the management of Engelbart's laboratory changed from the Stanford Research Institute, to Tymshare Incorporated to, finally, McDonnell Douglas Corporation.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html Engelbart left McDonnell Douglas Corp. in 1989.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html

After leaving McDonnell Douglas Coropration, Engelbart and his daughter Christina founded the Bootstrap Institute, which aimed to form alliances between leading technology companies and help achieve Engelbart's goal of raising the collective IQ.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html In the 1990s Engelbart left the institute to focus on research and development, consulting and leading seminars and workshops on computer technology.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html Engelbart continued to perform these activities through the Doug Engelbart Institute.http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html

1925: Born in Portland, Oregon http://www.dougengelbart.org/about/cv.html

1948: Graduated from Oregon State University with a bachelor of science in electrical engineeringhttp://www.dougengelbart.org/about/cv.html

1955: Gained a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Berkley.http://www.dougengelbart.org/about/cv.html

1968: Debuted the first ever computer mouse at the "mother of all demos" http://www.dougengelbart.org/about/cv.html

1990: Founded the Bootstraps Institutehttp://www.dougengelbart.org/about/cv.html