Hammer, Carl, 1914-2004

Hammer was born in Chicago, Illinois, educated in Germany, and received his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Munich in 1938. He was director of the Univac European Computer Center in 1955, joined Sylvania's Programming and Analysis Department in 1957, and later worked for the Radio Corporation of America's Surface Communications Division. In 1961 he became manager of RCA's Scientific Computer Applications, and in 1963 he became director of Computer Sciences at the Univac Division of Sperry Rand. He was active in a number of professional organizations relating to statistics, cybernetics, mathematics, and computing, and he delivered numerous speeches on the subject of computing.

From the description of Carl Hammer papers, 1955-1990. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63294320

Computer industry executive.

From the description of Oral history interview with Carl Hammer, 1983 Apr. 15. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63282974

Carl Hammer was born in Chicago, Illinois, and educated in Germany. He received his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Munich in 1938. He worked as a statistician before becoming chairman of the division of technical education at Walter Hervey Junior College in 1947. He became a research associate at Columbia University in 1950, where he did work in statistical modeling for the social sciences. Two years later he became a senior research engineer at the Franklin Institute. There he originally worked on analogue computers but soon became involved with digital systems. He was director of the UNIVAC European Computer Center 1955-1957, marketing and installing UNIVACs. He joined Sylvania's Programming and Analysis Department in 1957 to work on the Mobidic system, and worked on the ballistic missile early warning system. In 1959 he became administrative technical project coordinator for the Radio Corporation of America's Surface Communications Division, where he worked on Polaris communications, and IT&T and AT&T international cables; in 1961, he became manager of RCA's Scientific Computer applications and worked on Minuteman. In 1963 he became director of Computer Services at the UNIVAC Division of Sperry Rand and remained there until 1981.

Hammer taught at American University for 20 years and was active in professional organizations in the fields of statistics, cybernetics, mathematics, and computing. He also delivered numerous speeches on the subject of computing. In addition to numerous other awards, Hammer received the Computer Science Man-of-the-Year Award from the Data Processing Management Association in 1973.

From the guide to the Carl Hammer papers, 1946-1992, (University of Minnesota Libraries. Charles Babbage Institute. [cbi])