December 22, 2011 08:47 pm EDT

Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center founder Jacob Goldman passes away at age 90

Jacob Goldman, the man who helped found the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) as Xerox's chief scientist in 1970, has passed away at age 90. PARC holds a special place in gadget lore, as it was responsible for creating Alto, the first modern computer with a GUI and a mouse, the first WYSIWYG text editor, and Ethernet, among many other innovations. Prior to his time at Xerox, Dr. Goldman was the head of R&D at Ford Motor Company, and after retiring, he served on the boards of several companies, including Xerox. The New York Times reported that Goldman created PARC to research "the architecture of information" -- and the fruits of PARC's labor listed above show that he's made an immeasurable and lasting contribution to the computing world, and consequently, life as we know it. Godspeed, Dr. Goldman, and thanks for everything.

[Image credit: PARC]

Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center founder Jacob Goldman passes away at age 90 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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