Calvin Carl Gotlieb

Gotlieb, Calvin Carl

Calvin Carl Gotlieb, "Kelly," computer scientist, university professor (b at Toronto 27 Mar 1921). A pioneer in the computer industry, Gotlieb received a PhD in physics from the University of Toronto in 1947. A founding member of the university's computation centre in 1948, he began teaching computer science in 1951. In time his interest shifted from hardware to computer applications and software, and eventually to the socioeconomic implications of computer technology. He was instrumental in founding the Computing and Data Processing Association of Canada, now the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS), in 1958. In 1964 he founded the first graduate department of computer science in Canada at the University of Toronto.

An expert in mathematical, business and scientific applications, he has been consulted on social issues, timetables, graph theory, international development and seaway calculations since 1950. His publications include Social Issues in Computing (co-author, 1973) and Economics of Computers (1985). In 1994 Gotlieb received the Isaac L. Auerbach Medal by the International Federation of Information Processing Societies. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the British Computer Society and the Association of Computing Machinery, and in 1996 he was awarded the Order of Canada. He is married to poet and novelist Phyllis GOTLIEB.