John Makepeace Bennett

Infobox_Scientist
name = John Makepeace Bennett


caption = John at his home in Sydney in 2006
birth_date = birth date|1921|7|31|df=y
birth_place = Warwick, Queensland, Australia
residence = England, Australia
nationality = Australian
field = computer science
work_institution = Ferranti, Sydney University
alma_mater = University of Queensland, University of Cambridge
prizes = Officer of the Order of Australia

Emeritus Professor John Makepeace Bennett AO, FTSE, was an early computer scientist. His pioneering career included work on early computers such as EDSAC, Ferranti Mark I* and SILLIAC, and spreading the word about the use of computers through computing courses and computing associations.

He was born on 31 July 1921 in Warwick, Queensland. After leaving The Southport School, he went to the University of Queensland to study civil engineering.

From 1942 until 1946 (during WWII), he served in the RAAF. He worked on a radar unit on the Wessel Islands and later worked in airfield construction. He then returned to the University of Queensland to study electrical and mechanical engineering and mathematics.

In 1947 he went to Cambridge University to become Maurice Vincent Wilkes' first research assistant as part of the team working to build EDSAC. This was the world's first practical stored program electronic computer, and the world's first computer in regular operation from 1949. He used EDSAC to carry out the first ever structural engineering calculations on a computer as part of his PhD.

He worked for Ferranti in Manchester and London as a computer specialist. Here he designed the instruction set for Ferranti Mark I*, which was the main improvement of that machine over Ferranti Mark I.

In 1956, Bennett returned to Australia to become Senior Numerical Analyst to the Basser Laboratory at the University of Sydney. His main work was the development of software for SILLIAC.

Until 1958 he taught associated courses in the use of computers. In 1958 he established a Postgraduate Diploma in Numerical Analysis and Computing which was later changed to the Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Science.

In 1961, he became the Foundation Professor of Computer Science, and in 1972 he became head of the new Basser Department of Computer Science.

He was also the Foundation Chairman of the Australian Committee on Computation and Automatic Control from 1959 to 1963, the President of the New South Wales Computer Society from 1965 to 1966, and the Foundation President of the Australian Computer Society from 1966 to 1967. In 1981 he helped found the Research Foundation for Information Technology at the University. In 1983 he became an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).

In 1986 Bennett, aged 65, retired. He now lives with his wife, Rosalind Mary ("née" Elkington), in Sydney's Northern Beaches. He has four children and six grandchildren.

References

*Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, [http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P003370b.htm Bennett, John Makepeace (1921 - )] Bright Sparcs. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
*Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, [http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/589.html#2432 'The First computers, 1951 to 1956'] Technology in Australia 1788-1988. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
*Costello, J. (1993) 'John Bennett.' "Computerworld". 16 July, page 2.
*Davidson, P. (2003) 'John Bennett: educating the technology. generation.' "Information Age". August/September, page 31.
* [http://www.elkingtonfamily.com/Report%20805,%20InternetTree/WC01/WC01_087.htm Elkington Internet Family Tree] Retrieved 10 November 2006.
*JOHN MAKEPEACE BENNETT: A speech delivered in his honour in the Great Hall of the University of Sydney by Dr. J. Seberry on 11 November 1986. (read text [http://www.uow.edu.au/~jennie/bennett.ps Adobe PostScript] [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:kHNnsp96-_oJ:www.uow.edu.au/~jennie/bennett.ps+John+Makepeace+Bennett&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2 HTML] )

Persondata
NAME=Bennett, John Makepeace
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=computer scientist
DATE OF BIRTH=1921-7-31
PLACE OF BIRTH=Warwick, Queensland, Australia
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=