Dijkstra, Edsger Wybe

Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (1930-2002) was a teacher and researcher of computer science. Born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in 1930, he earned degrees in mathematics and theoretical physics from the University of Leyden and a Ph.D. in computing science from the University of Amsterdam. Dijkstra worked as a programmer (1952-1962) and professor (1962-1984) in The Netherlands, and was also a Burroughs Corporation research fellow (1973-1984). He held the Schlumberger Centennial Chair in Computing Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin from 1984 until his retirement in 1999. He was awarded the 1972 ACM Turing Award, a prestigious award in the field of computing. Dijkstra is known for connecting mathematical logic to computer programming, as well as for general contributions to mathematical methodology.

Edsger W. Dijkstra began programming in 1952 at the Mathematisch Centrum. He became a professor of mathematics at Eindhoven University of Technology in 1962 adding work as a research fellow with Burroughs Corporation in 1973. In 1984, Dijkstra left the Netherlands to accept the Schlumberger Centennial Chair in the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.