A Brief History of the IEEE Transactions on Computers

Abstract

THE IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Computer Society has traced its origin to the formation of the AIEE (American Institute of Electrical Engineers) Large-Scale Computing Devices Committee (CDC) during May and June 1946, which was formally approved by the AIEE Board of Directors on January 29, 1948. The IRE (Institute of Radio Engineers) Professional Group on Electronic Computers (PGEC) was formed on September 14, 1951, which was formally approved by the IRE Board of Directors on October 19, 1951. The AIEE CDC and the IRE PGEC were the roots of the IEEE Computer Society. After the merger of the AIEE and the IRE to form the IEEE in 1963, the AIEE CDC and the IRE PGEC were combined to form the IEEE Computer Group on April 22, 1964, which became the IEEE Computer Society in January 1971. Accordingly the IEEE Computer Society is celebrating its 65th Anniversary in 2011. Likewise the IEEE Transactions on Computers (TC) has traced its origin to the inaugural publication of the IRE Transactions on Electronic Computers in December 1952, with Werner Buchholz as Editor and Jean Felker and James Weiner comprising the Editorial Board. The inaugural issue (PGEC-1) contained papers on computers from WESCON (the Western Electronic Show and Convention), held at Long Beach, California, on August 27-29, 1952. The IRE Transactions on Electronic Computers began as a quarterly publication and became a bimonthly publication in January 1962. After the merger of the AIEE and the IRE in 1963, it became the IEEE Transactions on Electronic Computers in August 1963 (Volume EC-12, Number 4). Since January 1968 (Volume C-17, Number 1), it has become the current IEEE Transactions on Computers (TC) and a monthly publication. The inception of the IRE Transactions on Electronic Computers in 1952 had undoubtedly contributed much to the IRE Computer Group’s visibility and stability. The early formative years saw a succession of outstanding editors, beginning with Werner Buchholz in 1952, Ralph Meagher in 1954, John (Jack) Nash in 1957, Howard Tompkins in 1959, and Arnold Cohen in 1961. The position of associate editor was introduced in April 1961, the fi rst one being John (Jack) Sherman who was appointed to cover the area of analog and hybrid computers; also the name of editor was changed to editor-in-chief. The IEEE Transactions on (Electronic) Computers continued to develop under the editorship of Norman Scott (1963) and Harry Huskey (1965). With expanded breadth of technical coverage, the number of annual pages increased from about 800 in 1962 to nearly 1,400 in 1970. A special 25th Anniversary issue of TC was guest edited by Harry Huskey and published in 1976. It contained state-of-the-art surveys and tutorial presentations, and high-quality papers on emerging computing technology were brought together to present a comprehensive view of developments and evolution of concepts, education, languages, and peripherals in the computer fi eld. The special issue published 18 papers authored by 26 leading experts in their areas of interest. A chronological list of editors/editors-in-chief of TC with years of their appointments is listed as follows. 1. Werner Buchholz, 1952 2. Ralph Meagher, 1954 3. John Nash, 1957 4. Howard Tompkins, 1959 5. Arnold Cohen, 1961 6. Norman Scott, 1963 7. Harry Huskey, 1965 8. Robert Short, 1971 9. Richard Merwin, 1975 10. Taylor Booth, 1978 11. Tse-yun Feng, 1982 12. Ming T. Liu, 1986 13. Earl Swartzlander, 1991 14. Jane W.S. Liu, 1995 15. Jean-Luc Gaudiot, 1999 16. Viktor Prasanna, 2003 17. Fabrizio Lambardi, 2007 18. Albert Zomaya, 2011 In 2011 TC is celebrating the 60th year of its publication. Happy Anniversary!