Stanley Gill facts for kids

Professor Stanley J. Gill (born March 26, 1926 – died 1975) was a British computer scientist. He is famous for helping to invent the very first computer subroutine. He worked on this important invention with Maurice Wilkes and David Wheeler. A subroutine is like a mini-program inside a bigger program. It helps computers do tasks more efficiently.

Stanley Gill's Early Life and Studies

Stanley Gill was born on March 26, 1926, in Worthing, England. When he was a student, he went to Worthing High School for Boys. He even enjoyed acting in a drama club during those years.

In 1943, Stanley won a special scholarship. This allowed him to study at St John's College, Cambridge. There, he focused on Mathematics and Natural Sciences. He earned his first degree in 1947 and a master's degree in 1950.

Working with Early Computers

From 1947 to 1950, Gill worked at the National Physical Laboratory. This is where he met his wife, Audrey Lee, and they got married in 1949.

Later, from 1952 to 1955, he was a researcher at St John's College. He joined a team led by Maurice Wilkes. They did important work with the EDSAC computer. This computer was located in the Cavendish Laboratory.

The First Computer Game

In 1952, Stanley Gill created a very early computer game! It was quite simple but very clever for its time. The game had a dot, which they called a "sheep." This "sheep" moved towards a line that had two gates.

Players controlled the game using the EDSAC's paper tape reader. If you put your hand in the light beam of the reader, it would open the top gate. If you left the beam alone, the bottom gate would open instead.

Career in Computing

Stanley Gill earned his PhD in 1953. After that, he spent a year as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois.

He then joined the Computer Department at Ferranti Ltd. In 1963, he became a Professor at UMIST in Manchester. He taught about Automatic Data Processing.

In 1964, he became a professor at Imperial College, University of London. He led the new Chair of Computing Science and the Computing Unit. This department later became the Imperial College Centre for Computing and Automation, and Gill became its director.

Stanley Gill also helped start the Real Time Club in 1967. He was the chairman of this club from 1970 until he passed away in 1975. He also advised many universities around the world on how to set up their own computing departments. From 1967 to 1968, he was the President of the British Computer Society.