Alan Kotok
American computer scientist
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About Alan Kotok
American computer scientist Alan Kotok was an MIT alumnus who helped create one of the first computer games as well as the gaming joystick.
Background
He grew up in New Jersey, though he was born in Philadelphia. He showed traits of a creative genius at an early age. He was tinkering with model railroads and tools at his father’s hardware store in grade school. He skipped two grades in high school and matriculated in MIT at the age of 16 [1958].
The creative genius married Judith McCoy, a music teacher at the Longy School of Music. They had one daughter and adopted two children.
Career in Computer Science
Alan co-created one of the earliest computer games – “Spacewar!”. He was also involved in developing a chess-playing computer program – the “Kotok-McCarthy” program – which took part in the first chess match between computers.
The computer scientist, after completing MIT, took a job in Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) – a computer manufacturer, where he worked for 30 years. He was the chief architect of one of the early mainframe computer families – the PDP-10.
His work with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was distinguished. The W3C concerns itself with maintaining international standards for the World Wide Web.
Death
The computer genius died of a heart attack at age 64.
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F.A.Q. about Alan Kotok
When is his birthday?
Alan Kotok's birthday is on November 9, 1941.
In how many days is his birthday?
Alan's birthday is in 157 days
How old was Alan when he died?
He was 64 years old.
When did he die?
He died in May 26, 2006.
How old would he be today?
Alan Kotok would be 81 years old if he was alive today.
Where was Alan from?
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S..