Additional Information for
“Who Earned First Computer Science PhD?”
Ralph L. London
Computer Science Department
Portland State University
London@imagina.com
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear.
— Introduction to The Lone Ranger
Due to space constraints, some material had to be omitted from the main article, “Who Earned
First Computer Science PhD?.” [12] The omitted material appears in this additional piece, which
depends on the main article.
The main article points out that numerous sources say the first two PhDs in computer science
were earned by Richard Wexelblat in December 1965 and Andries (Andy) van Dam in May
1966, both at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, many sources say the first PhD in
computer science to a woman was earned in 1968 by Barbara Liskov at Stanford. But at
virtually the same time in June 1965, two other degrees were completed: Sister Mary Kenneth
Keller, BVM, earned a PhD from the Computer Sciences Department at the University of
Wisconsin, and Irving C. Tang earned a DSc from the Applied Mathematics and Computer
Science Department at Washington University in St. Louis. The purpose of the main article is to
show that in the United States, Keller and Tang were not just earlier but also first, thereby
providing a more accurate historical record.
This additional piece initially briefly expands the section about others having discussed the
question of who was first: Amber Bouman [3] recognizes Keller as the first woman while noting
that Barbara Liskov is often cited as the first woman. A reprint is headlined, “First Female
Computer Science Ph.D. Was A Nun.” For her guest lecture in computing history, [8] Katherine
Deibel includes on two slides,
Sister Mary Kenneth Keller: First woman to earn a PhD in Computer Science
(University of Wisconsin-Madison). … The first PhDs in Computer Science?
The first PhDs designated as “Computer Science” were awarded by the University
of Pennsylvania: Richard Wexelblat (December, 1965) and Andries van Dam
(May, 1966). Keller earned her PhD in May [sic], 1965 from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
Except for Tang and who was first overall, her two slides have most of the story: Keller was the
first woman and completed her PhD before the often-cited first PhDs to Wexelblat and van Dam.
An audio recording of her lecture reveals a comment that Keller might be the first person (times
37:13 to 37:25). But to say so definitely is appropriately excluded from her talk. Regarding
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women with a PhD in Computer Science, she cleverly observes (times 37:27 to 37:39), “Prior to
1965 … there were none, and after 1965 there was a nun.”
Keller’s and Tang’s Backgrounds and Achievements
Sister Keller, born in December 1913, earned BA and MS degrees in Mathematics from DePaul
University, in 1943 and 1953, respectively. In 1958 she went to Dartmouth College, contributing
to what became the Basic programming language. At Dartmouth the computer center broke its
men-only rule so she could participate. She received her PhD when she was 51. Keller’s thesis,
titled Inductive Inference on Computer Generated Patterns, constructed “algorithms that
performed analytic differentiation on algebraic expressions.” She programmed the algorithms in
Sister Mary Kenneth
Keller in an oftenappearing, undated
photo. Courtesy Mount
Carmel Archives.
Sister Keller at a computer
terminal. This picture is
from a wall display in the
Keller Computer Center
that describes Keller’s
professional life.
Courtesy Clarke University.
Another photo from the
wall display. Courtesy
Clarke University.
Building name.
Courtesy Clarke University.
CDC Fortran 63. [9, 1] In 1965 she founded the Computer Science Department at Clarke
College in Dubuque, Iowa, the first such department in a U.S. small college, chairing it for
twenty years. At Clarke she also was instrumental in establishing a master's degree program for
computer applications in education. [5, 9, 1] “She wrote four books on various aspects of
computing and was a founder of the Association of Small Computer Users in Education
(ASCUE).” [4] Denise Gürer writes, [9, 1]
Keller felt that women should be involved in computer science and especially in
the field of information specialist [saying], “We’re having an information
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explosion, among others, and it’s certainly obvious that information is of no use
unless it’s available. … We can now mechanically simulate the cognitive
process. … This mechanism [the computer] can be used to assist humans in
learning. As we are going to have more mature students in greater numbers as
time goes on, this type of teaching will probably be increasingly important.”
An obituary records, “Sister Keller died in January 1985 at the age of 71 after a long and
distinguished career in the use of computers in education.” [4] At Clarke (University since
August 2010), the Keller Computer Center is named after her. [6] The Center has a wall display
describing Keller’s professional life.
Irving Che-Hong Tang, born in 1931, earned BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering, in
1952 from the University of California and in 1953 from the
University of Illinois, respectively. After serving as Design
Engineer with Friden Calculators and as Systems Engineer with
IBM, he went to Washington University in St. Louis for a doctorate.
Tang’s thesis was titled, Radial Flow Between Parallel Planes. For
a problem in air lubrication, he created special numerical schemes
for the solution of a nonlinear Navier-Stokes type of partial
differential equation. Having obtained his DSc with C. David
Gorman of Mathematics as his advisor, Tang received a postIrving C. Tang. http://
www.osuokc.edu/ictang/ doctoral fellowship from the Norwegian government and did
research at the University of Oslo. He then was appointed Head of
Courtesy Irving Tang.
the Department of Applied Mathematics, New South Wales
Institute of Technology in Sydney, Australia, and following that
became Head of the Mathematical Studies Department, Hong Kong Polytechnic. He has worked
for the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey and later received tenure as
Professor in the Department of Mathematics, Oklahoma State University at Oklahoma City.
Tang has published over thirty technical papers and is Professor Emeritus.
Claims for the First Degree
It is essential to emphasize that Wexelblat, van Dam and Liskov each relied on statements made
by others and never saw the need to research the issue. The statements for Wexelblat and van
Dam apparently started, at least in part, with Penn faculty. In the 1980s, some women computer
science graduate students at Stanford decided Liskov was the first woman. The various
statements were propagated by others.
One place that claims Wexelblat was first is a Wikipedia article. The article, not written by him
but including his recent note added at his insistence, states his degree was [15]
the first ever awarded by a formally recognized Computer Science department.
(Note: not the first CS doctorate, but the first awarded by a CS department. Note
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as well that Andy van Dam should share this distinction as he completed his CS
dissertation at essentially the same time. RLW 01/20/2012)
Wexelblat strongly believes that he should not be considered first. He thinks the distinction of
the first computer science PhD should be based on computer science topic rather than award by a
computer science department. He also insists on sharing the distinction, decided by others, with
van Dam because the period from December 1965 to May 1966 is not significant to Wexelblat.
That Wexelblat is first also appears in a Biographical Dictionary, edited by J.A.N. Lee. [10] It
asserts for Wexelblat’s degree that the University Graduate Group in Computer and Information
Sciences, with Saul Gorn as chairman, “granted the first named PhD in computer science ever
given anywhere.” The word “anywhere” might be interpreted to mean worldwide. A similar
claim is found earlier in Gorn’s 1992 obituary: [14] “The first doctorate in computer science
anywhere was given under his guidance, while he was chairman of Penn's graduate program.”
Note that Gorn’s role was group chairman; Wexelblat’s advisor was Noah Prywes and van Dam’s
was Harry Gray, Jr.
Actually, van Dam’s May 1966 degree from Penn may not be second overall (that is, may not be
the first US degree in 1966). First degrees in 1966 include those to Karl Usow from Purdue, Bill
McKeeman and Raj Reddy from Stanford, and Joel Sturman from Cornell. Additional 1966
degrees were earned by Kenneth Brown (Purdue August) and four from Washington University
in St. Louis (Donald Burlingame, Alan Cook, Harvey Glass and Donald Shapiro). Wisconsin
awarded no degrees in 1966. There may have been others in 1966, plus some from departments
that started in 1966, such as Penn State (their first graduate was Robert Burger in June 1969).
The usual qualifiers “first woman” or “likely one of the first women” that are added to women’s
degrees suggest adding the unusual qualifiers “second man” to Wexelblat’s degree and “possibly
the third man” to van Dam’s!
As further indication that the first degree does matter to some, the website, “The Day in Tech
History,” commemorates daily events for various years. The entry for December 5 is [7]
1965 - Richard Wexelblat was the first candidate to complete his doctoral
dissertation, hence giving him a degree in “Computer Science.” It was presented
at the University of Pennsylvania.
When Liskov won the 2008 ACM Turing Award, announcements cited her as the first woman.
[11] The Ada project [1] is one place where she is cited as first – immediately after Keller’s
entry. The Anita Borg Institute’s list of “Famous Women in Computer Science” [2] has a similar
inconsistency.
Concluding with some personal notes, I was one of the Wisconsin Computer Sciences faculty
members on Keller’s thesis committee (I did very little.). I do not recall any celebration at the
time, or even any notice being taken, that her PhD was the first from the recently formed
department. Her advisor, Preston C. Hammer, had a joint appointment in Computer Sciences and
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Mathematics. Although I remembered the date, for a long time I could not recall or determine
whether her degree was from Computer Sciences or Mathematics. Confirmation that it is
Computer Sciences comes first from a list I recently discovered from the Wisconsin Computer
Sciences Department. [13] Further confirmation is from the title page of Keller’s thesis archived
in the Wisconsin university library and from that library’s online entry for her thesis. To avoid
detracting from Liskov’s well deserved Turing Award, I quickly and quietly failed at the time it
was announced to determine if Keller’s degree was Computer Sciences.
Acknowledgments
For their significant help in various ways in uncovering material, understanding it and then
presenting it, I am grateful to Ed Lazowska, Barbara Liskov, Bobbi London, Sara McAlpin
(archivist at Clarke), Jude Shavlik, Irving Tang, Larry Travis, Andy van Dam, Dick Wexelblat,
Bill Wulf and Bryant York.
References
All web pages were accessed November 21, 2012.
[1] “The Ada Project,” http://women.cs.cmu.edu/ada/Resources/Women/
[2] Anita Borg Institute, “Famous Women in Computer Science,” http://anitaborg.org/news/
profiles-of-technical-women/famous-women-in-computer-science/
[3] Amber Bouman, “The 15 Most Important Women in Tech History,” March 2011, http://
www.maximumpc.com/article/features/15_most_important_women_tech_history
[4] “Brief Obituary for Sister Mary Kenneth Keller,” Annals of the History of Computing,
Volume 8, Number 2, April 1986, p. 194. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?
arnumber=04640410
[5] Clarke University records.
[6] “Computer Center Clarke University,” http://www.clarke.edu/search.aspx?q=Keller
%20Computer%20Center
[7] “The Day in Tech History for December 5,” http://www.blubrry.com/dayintechhistory/
1231055/december-5-richard-wexelblat-recieves-first-computer-science-degree/ [“recieves” is
misspelled consistently]
[8] Katherine Deibel, “Women in Computing,” Guest lecture in CSEP 590, A History of
Computing, University of Washington, November 2006, Slides 25 and 26.
www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/csep590/06au/lectures/slides/Deibel_Nov_22.ppt
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Audio: www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/csep590/06au/lectures/
Video: http://videosrv14.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/csep590a/06au/
csep590a_06au_9_2.mp3
[9] Denise Gürer, “Pioneering Women in Computer Science,” Communications of the ACM,
Vol. 38, No. 1, January 1995, pp. 45-54. Reprinted in SIGCSE Bulletin, Vol. 34, No. 2, June
2002, pp. 175-183. The 2002 reprint is quoted by the Ada Project [1].
[10] John A. N. Lee (ed.), International Biographical Dictionary of Computer Pioneers, Fitzroy
Dearborn Publishers, Chicago, 1995.
[11] “Barbara Liskov Wins Turing Award,” MIT News, 2009, http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/
2009/turing-liskov-0310.html. Also “First Woman with Computer Science PhD Wins Top
Award,” Stanford Report, March 18, 2009, http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/march18/turingaward-barbara-liskof-031809.html [liskof [sic]]
[12] Ralph L. London, “Who Earned First Computer Science PhD?,” January 2013, http://
cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/159591-who-earned-first-computer-science-phd/fulltext
[13] “UW-Madison Computer Science Ph.D.s Awarded, May 1965 - August 1970,” http://
research.cs.wisc.edu/includes/textfiles/phds.65-70.txt
[14] Andy Wallace, “Saul Gorn, 79, Penn Professor And Pioneer In Computer Research,” The
Inquirer, February 26, 1992, http://articles.philly.com/1992-02-26/news/26039573_1_army-sballistics-research-laboratory-computer-language-computer-research
[15] “Richard Wexelblat,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wexelblat
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