Clarence Ellis (computer scientist) facts for kids

Clarence "Skip" Ellis (born May 11, 1943 – died May 17, 2014) was a very important American computer scientist. He was a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Ellis made history as the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1969. He was also the first African-American to become a Fellow of the ACM in 1997. This is a big honor in the computer world.

He was a pioneer in a field called Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). This is about how computers can help people work together. He and his team at Xerox PARC created OfficeTalk. This was one of the first systems that helped groups of people work on projects at the same time. Ellis also helped create something called Operational Transformation. This technology lets many people edit the same document at the same time, like in Google Docs.

Skip Ellis's Early Life

A Night Job and Punch Cards

When Skip Ellis was 15 years old in 1958, he looked for a job. He wanted to help his family earn money. He applied for a night job at a company called Dover Corporation. His job was a computer operator. He got the job because he was the only person who applied!

His main job was to walk around all night. He had to make sure no one broke into the building. He also had to watch over the company's new computer. He wasn't allowed to touch it. This computer was huge! It used 2,400 old-fashioned vacuum tubes. It also used punch cards for putting information in and getting it out. The computer filled a very large room.

Learning About Computers on His Own

During his free time at work, Ellis read all the computer manuals. He learned as much as he could about the machine. He did this without even touching it!

Two months later, the company had a big problem. They ran out of new punch cards. They needed to use the computer to process payroll by morning. Ellis was the only one who knew how to reuse the old punch cards. He carefully opened the computer. He then turned off a special part that checked for errors. This allowed them to reuse the old cards. The company was able to process the payroll on time!

After this, the company often asked him for help. They even asked him to operate and program the computer. Ellis said this experience made him love computers even more.

Education and Firsts

College Days at Beloit

Throughout high school, Ellis's teachers encouraged him. They suggested he attend summer programs at universities in Chicago. This was his first time seeing college life.

Even though his family didn't have much money, Ellis went to Beloit College in 1960. His church gave him a scholarship to help him attend.

In his third year at Beloit, the college received an IBM 1620 computer. Ellis and his chemistry professor were asked to set it up. This was the start of Beloit College's first computer lab. Ellis became its director. In the early 1960s, Beloit didn't have a computer science degree. But Ellis was able to do computer projects instead of some science lab work. In 1964, he earned a degree in both math and physics from Beloit.

Making History with a Ph.D.

After Beloit, Ellis started graduate school at MIT. But he didn't stay long because he was involved in civil rights activism.

He then went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There, he worked on the ILLIAC IV supercomputer. In 1969, Clarence Ellis earned his Ph.D. in computer science from UIUC. He became the very first African-American to achieve this! His professor, David E. Muller, was his advisor.

A Career of Innovation

Working at Bell Labs and MIT

From 1969 to 1972, Ellis worked at Bell Labs. He studied how probability theory could be used in computing. In 1972, he became a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. He helped start their computer science department.

A few years later, he became a professor at MIT. He worked on research related to ARPANET, which was an early version of the internet.

Pioneering at Xerox PARC

Ellis left MIT after one year. He went to work at Xerox PARC and Stanford University. He stayed there for almost ten years. At Xerox PARC, he worked on many important things. These included icon-based computer screens (like the ones we use today). He also worked on object-oriented programming languages and groupware systems.

He was part of the team that worked on the Alto. This was the world's first personal computer (PC). They also developed its software and how people interacted with it. Many of these ideas from the 1970s became very popular later. For example, Apple's Lisa computer and Microsoft's MS-DOS software used similar ideas. At PARC, Ellis led the Office Research Group. This group created the first office system that used icons and Ethernet for people to work together from different places.

Leading Groupware Research

In the mid-1980s, Ellis led the Groupware Research Group. This was at the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC). He led efforts in Real-time Collaborative Editing. He also helped create the field of Operational transformation. In the early 1990s, Ellis became the Chief Architect for a workflow product in France.

Returning to Teaching

In 1992, Ellis returned to the University of Colorado Boulder. He became a full professor. He continued his work on groupware. He focused on new, large-scale Workflow systems. These systems help manage tasks and projects. He also worked on systems that help support meetings.

In 2009, he became an emeritus professor. This means he was retired but still connected to the university. He still taught an introductory computer course sometimes. He wanted to "encourage students of all ethnicities to expand their horizons." He also helped start a 10-week program. It was called the Summer Multicultural Access to Research Training (SMART) program. This program helped students explore science and engineering.

In 2013, Ellis won a Fulbright Scholarship. This allowed him to teach and do research in Ghana, Africa, at Ashesi University. He researched computer systems that could help create new types of government for developing countries.

Later Years and Passing

Clarence "Skip" Ellis spent much of his later career helping Ashesi University in Accra, Ghana. He sadly passed away unexpectedly at age 71. This happened on May 17, 2014, during a flight home from Ghana. He died from a pulmonary embolism.