Maurice Wilkes
British computer pioneer who built EDSAC, one of the first stored-program computers
- Lived
- 97 yrs
- 1913 – 2010
- Works listed
- 3
- Computer, Book
- Honours
- 4
- Most recent 2000
- Profile views
- 3
- 0 followers
Sir Maurice Wilkes was a British computer scientist who led the team that built EDSAC at the University of Cambridge, the first practical stored-program computer to offer a regular computing service. He also invented microprogramming and received the Turing Award in 1967.
Biography
Early life
Wilkes studied mathematics at St John’s College, Cambridge, and did research on the propagation of radio waves in the ionosphere. During the Second World War he worked on radar and operational research.
EDSAC
After reading John von Neumann’s report on the EDVAC design in 1946, Wilkes set out to build a stored-program computer at the Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory. EDSAC ran its first program on 6 May 1949 and was soon used by scientists across the university, making it one of the first computers to provide a routine service.
Programming and microprogramming
Wilkes and his colleagues David Wheeler and Stanley Gill wrote the first textbook on programming in 1951, introducing ideas such as libraries of subroutines. In 1951 he proposed microprogramming, a way of building a processor’s control unit from a small internal program, which was later used in IBM’s System/360 and most later processors.
Later career
He led the Cambridge Computer Laboratory until 1980, then worked for Digital Equipment Corporation and Olivetti’s research laboratory. He was knighted in 2000 and kept working into his nineties. He died in Cambridge in 2010, aged 97.
Timeline
-
1913
Born in Dudley, Worcestershire, England
-
1945
Becomes director of the Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory
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1949
EDSAC runs its first program
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1951
Proposes microprogramming; co-writes the first programming textbook
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1956
Elected Fellow of the Royal Society
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1967
Receives the Turing Award
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1980
Retires from Cambridge and joins DEC
-
2000
Knighted
-
2010
Died, aged 97
Notable works
-
1949
EDSAC Computer
Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator.
-
1951
The Preparation of Programs for an Electronic Digital Computer Book
With David Wheeler and Stanley Gill.
-
1985
Memoirs of a Computer Pioneer Autobiography
Awards and honours
-
Fellow of the Royal Society
1956
-
Turing Award
1967
-
Faraday Medal
1981
-
Knight Bachelor
2000
Did you know?
-
1
EDSAC used mercury delay lines as memory.
-
2
A working reconstruction of EDSAC has been built at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.
-
3
He was one of the first people to realise how much time would be spent finding mistakes in programs.
Connections
Related people
Frequently asked
Who is Maurice Wilkes?
Sir Maurice Wilkes was a British computer scientist who led the team that built EDSAC at the University of Cambridge, the first practical stored-program computer to offer a regular computing service. He also invented microprogramming and received the Turing Award in 1967.
When did Maurice Wilkes die?
Maurice Wilkes died on 29 November 2010 at the age of 97.
Where is Maurice Wilkes from?
Maurice Wilkes was born in Dudley, Worcestershire, England.
What is Maurice Wilkes known for?
Maurice Wilkes is best known for EDSAC (1949); inventing microprogramming; Turing Award 1967.
What awards has Maurice Wilkes received?
Notable honours include Fellow of the Royal Society (1956), Turing Award (1967), Faraday Medal (1981), Knight Bachelor (2000).
References
- Maurice Wilkes — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Maurice Wilkes — Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Maurice Wilkes — Goodreads author page. Goodreads. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. www.cl.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Maurice Wilkes (Q62857) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Maurice Wilkes”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Maurice Wilkes.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/maurice-wilkes
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