| Evelyn Berezin | |
| Birth Date: | 12 April 1925 |
| Birth Place: | The Bronx, New York City |
| Spouse: | Israel Wilenitz[1] |
| Known For: | Designing one of the first word processors; helping design some of the first computer reservations systems |
| Education: | B.S. in physics, 1946 |
| Alma Mater: | New York University |
| Employer: | Electronic Computer Corporation |
| Occupation: | Computer engineer, Physicist |
| Awards: | Fellowship from the United States Atomic Energy Commission |
Evelyn Berezin (April 12, 1925 – December 8, 2018)[2] was an American computer designer of the first computer-driven word processor.[2] [3] She also worked on computer-controlled systems for airline reservations.[4]
Berezin was born in the east Bronx in 1925 to Belarusian Jewish immigrants. Her father Soloman (Zalman) was a furrier from Mogilev.[5] She attended Christopher Columbus High School.[2] Her father was a furrier and her mother was a seamstress. She started university at the age of sixteen[6] at Hunter College (a women's college at the time), studying economics instead of the physics she preferred, because Hunter did not offer a physics course for women. After WWII started, new opportunities made the study of physics possible with a scholarship at New York University, plus free classes at both Hunter and Brooklyn Polytech during the war years. At the same time, she worked full-time during the day as an assistant in the Rheology Department of the Research Division of the International Printing Company (IPI). Going to university at night, she received her B.S. in physics in 1946.[2]
Berezin began graduate work at New York University, holding a fellowship from the United States Atomic Energy Commission. In 1951, she accepted a job with the Electronic Computer Corporation and began work there as head of the Logic Design Department. When she was hired at Electronic Computer Corporation, she had little experience with computer design and only began working there after having difficulty finding physics-related work. Berezin was the only person doing the logic design for computers being developed by ECC. In 1957, ECC was purchased by Underwood Corporation (originally known as the Underwood Typewriter Company). Here, she designed a number of general computers created for specific applications, such as a system for military range calculations, a system for controlling the distribution of magazines, along with what is now considered the first office computer.[7]
In 1957, Berezin left the Underwood Typewriter Company to become the head of logic design at a company called Teleregister, formerly a division of Western Union.[8]
Using vacuum tube computers and electromechanical switching, Teleregister had built one of the first airline reservation systems, the "Reservisor".[9] Using newly available transistor technology, Berezin developed a computerized reservation system for United Airlines which was one of the largest computer systems at that time, controlling 60 cities in a communication system that provided one second response time. While working for Teleregister, Berezin also developed the first computerized banking system, which was adopted by many businesses due to its effective capabilities and reliability.[10]
In 1960, Berezin had a job offer from the New York Stock Exchange retracted strictly because she was a woman, despite being one of the few qualified for the job.[11]
In 1968, Berezin had the idea for a computerized word processor to simplify the work of secretaries, and in 1969 she founded Redactron Corporation,[12] to market her device, named the "Data Secretary". The Data Secretary the first word processor: the device was the size of a small refrigerator, and received text input through an IBM Selectric typewriter, from which it could store documents on a tape drive. The company began with only 9 employees and a $750,000 investment. By 1972, Redactron had a total yearly revenue of nearly $16.2 million.
In the 1970s, although the market continued strong, the economy had suffered serious inflation, increasing interest rates to a level (16%) which was untenable for a business like Redactron, which operated in a world in which equipment was rented. The company was sold to the Burroughs Corporation in 1976, and integrated into its office equipment division. Berezin stayed on until 1979.[4]
In 1980, Berezin served as President of Greenhouse Management Company, General Partner of a venture capital group dedicated to early-stage high technology companies. Berezin stayed with Greenhouse until 1987.
During her career, she received honorary doctorates from Adelphi University and Eastern Michigan University. Berezin also served on the Boards of CIGNA, Standard Microsystems, Koppers, and Datapoint.[13]
Berezin served on the Board of the Stony Brook Foundation at Stony Brook University, the Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Boyce Thompson Institute.[14]
Berezin established the Berezin-Wilenitz Endowment, which will give the value of her estate to fund either a chair, professorship, or research fund at Stonybrook in any field of science as stated in her will and testament.[15] In addition to the endowment, Berezin and her late husband funded the Sam and Rose Berezin Endowed Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship that is awarded to an undergraduate student who plans to study in the field of science, engineering or mathematics, in honor of her parents. Berezin and Wilenitz also established the Israel Wilenitz Endowment. This provides discretionary funds to the Linguistics Department at Stony Brook University, where Wilenitz received a Master's Degree.
While studying for her PhD, Berezin went on a blind date with Israel Wilenitz. Wilenitz was an Englishman who had moved to Israel and was only in New York City for a year of work. The couple got married in 1951, and soon after, Wilenitz moved back to Israel. A year later, Berezin moved to Israel to be with her husband. However, Berezin struggled to find a job, so the couple decided to move back to New York City for the happiness of the both of them. Berezin was married for 51 years to Israel Wilenitz, who died on February 20, 2003.[16] Berezin died on December 8, 2018, at the age of 93 while in treatment for cancer.[2]