Ralph J. Slutz

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Ralph J. Slutz
Slutz-portrait.jpg
Ralph J. Slutz
BornMay 18, 1917
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
DiedNovember 16, 2005 (aged 88)
Boulder, Colorado, USA
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S. and M.S.)
Princeton University (Ph.D.)
Known for SEAC, ICOADS
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics, Computer Science
Institutions Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey
National Bureau of Standards (NIST today)
University of Colorado Boulder
Doctoral advisor Howard P. Robertson
Notable students Xiaodong Zhang

Ralph J. Slutz was an American physicist and computer architect known for his work in the Electronic Computer Project at the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) and as a co-inventor of the SEAC. He was also a pioneer of the comprehensive ocean-atmosphere datasets for the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) project. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Biography

Ralph Jeffery Slutz was born on May 18, 1917, in Cleveland, Ohio.

He received a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering in 1938 and a Master of Science in 1939 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Later, Dr. Slutz received his PhD in theoretical physics from the Princeton University in 1946. [6]

Dr. Slutz was associated with the Electronic Computer Project working with John von Neumann at the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) following his PhD in 1946. [7] In 1948, he joined the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST), where he co-invented the SEAC computer with Samuel N. Alexander and worked as its chief architect until 1954. Dr. Slutz then served as the chief of the Radio Propagation Physics Division at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, until 1980. [2] [3] [8] [9] [10]

Ralph J. Slutz and Samuel Alexander worked on the SEAC Computer together in 1950. Samuel-alexander-and-ralph-slutz-seac-input-output-resized-descrip.jpg
Ralph J. Slutz and Samuel Alexander worked on the SEAC Computer together in 1950.

After retiring from the National Bureau of Standards in 1980, he became a senior scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he led the ICOADS project until 1989. In 1987, Dr. Slutz co-authored and published the first research paper of ICOADS, titled A Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set. This first released dataset comprised seventy million marine datasets collected between 1854 and 1986. Since then, the datasets of ICOADS have been extended to the late 20th and early 21st centuries. [11] [12]

Dr. Slutz died on November 16, 2005, in Boulder, Colorado. In 2010, The Ralph J. Slutz Student Excellence Award was established in the Computer Science Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder in his honor. [1] [4]

Personal life

Ralph Jeffery Slutz married Margaret Mary Michell (1919–2011) in 1946. [13] Margaret and Ralph had 4 children, 15 grandchildren, and by 2025, 14 great grandchildren.

Representative publications

References

  1. 1 2 "Contributors" . IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine. 47 (6): 97. 2005-12-09. Bibcode:2005IAPM...47...97.. doi:10.1109/MAP.2005.1608744. ISSN   1558-4143.
  2. 1 2 "NIST Timeline". NIST.
  3. 1 2 "NBS Technical Highlights 1969" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-26.
  4. 1 2 "Student Awards | Computer Science | University of Colorado Boulder". www.colorado.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  5. ↑ "In memory of Ralph J. Slutz". Personal webpage of Xiaodong Zhang. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  6. ↑ "Ralph J. Slutz *46 | Princeton Alumni Weekly". paw.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  7. ↑ "Ralph Slutz". Institute for Advanced Study. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  8. ↑ Slutz, Ralph J.; Winkelman, James R. (1964-12-01). "Shape of the Magnetospheric Boundary under Solar Wind Pressure". Journal of Geophysical Research. 69 (23): 4933–4948. Bibcode:1964JGR....69.4933S. doi:10.1029/JZ069i023p04933. ISSN   0148-0227.
  9. ↑ Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N. J. ) Electronic Computer Project (1948). Third interim progress report on the physical realization of an electronic computing instrument … 1 January 1948. Institute for Advanced Study. Institute for Advanced Study.
  10. ↑ "Prophets, Seers and Pioneers" (PDF). cris.brighton.ac.uk.
  11. ↑ "Ralph Slutz". Computer Hope. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  12. ↑ "A Brief History of Cars on Fire at MIT". MIT Admissions. 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  13. ↑ "Margaret M. Slutz Obituary" (PDF).
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