Clifford Berry Explained

Clifford Berry
Birth Date:	19 April 1918
Birth Place:	Gladbrook, Iowa
Death Place:	New York City
Nationality:	American
Fields:	Electrical engineering
Alma Mater:	Iowa State College
Doctoral Advisor:	John Vincent Atanasoff
Known For:	Atanasoff–Berry computer

Clifford Edward Berry (April 19, 1918 – October 30, 1963) helped John Vincent Atanasoff create the first digital electronic computer in 1939, the Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC).

Biography

Clifford Berry was born April 19, 1918, in Gladbrook, Iowa, to Fred and Grace Berry.^[1] His father owned an appliance repair shop, where he was able to learn about radios. He graduated from Marengo High School in Marengo, Iowa, in 1934 as the class valedictorian at age 16.^[2] He went on to study at Iowa State College (now known as Iowa State University), eventually earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1939 and followed by his master's degree in physics in 1941.

In 1942, he married an ISU classmate and Atanasoff's secretary, Martha Jean Reed.

By 1948, he earned his PhD in physics from Iowa State University.

He died in 1963, attributed to "possible suicide".^[3]

External links

• 1942 and 1962 photos of Berry, Ames Laboratory Archive, Iowa State
• Atanasoff-Berry Computer Archive, Computer Science Dept., Iowa State
• June 7, 1972 interview with Atanasoff on Berry, Smithsonian National Museum of American History
• A. R. Mackintosh, “Dr. Atanasoff’s Computer”, Scientific American, August 1988 (Archived 2009-10-31)
• "ABC - Atanasoff-Berry Computer", I Programmer
• IEEE Computer Pioneers Biography Entry

Notes and References

1. Web site: Famous Iowans – Clifford Berry. Des Moines Register. en. 2018-11-21.
2. Web site: Computer Pioneers – Clifford Edward Berry. 2012. IEEE Computer Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2018-11-21.
3. Web site: Computer Pioneers - Clifford Edward Berry .