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Russell A. Kirsch
Introduction

Russell A. Kirsch led a team of colleagues in creating America’s first internally programmable computer, the SEAC, capable of scanning digital images in 1957. SEAC, the Standards Electronic Automatic Computer, produced a photograph of Kirsch’s three month old son in a mere 176 pixels, measuring 5x5cm. 3 Because of this breakthrough, satellite imaging, CAT scans, bar codes, and desktop publishing were made possible.1

Background

Education

Russell A. Kirsch went to school at the Bronx High School of Science and graduated in 1946. He continued his education at New York University in 1950, Harvard University in 1952, and later the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.1

Personal Life

Russell and his wife, Joan Kirsch, currently reside in Oregon and use computer programming to examine paintings and define the process by which they were created. Their son Walden now works for Intel in the Communications department. 2

Career

Kirsch has held a long time standing at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). During his career at the NBS, Kirsch and his team of colleagues, Wright, Shupe and Cooper, founded America’s first internally programmable computer.3 This internal memory greatly increased the power of processing for future inventions. Years later, the team constructed a drum scanner to “trace variations of intensity over the surfaces of photographs.” They used the computer to extract line drawings, count objects, recognize types of characters and produce oscilloscope displays.5 Later in life, he became the director of research of the Sturvil Corporation and a past Advisory Editor of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He is currently the Advisory Editor of the journal, Languages of Design.4

Accomplishments

Due to the importance of the first digital photograph, in 2003 Life magazine credited this image as one of the “100 Photographs That Changed the World.” 5 Although Kirsch did not work for NASA, his invention led to increased technology crucial to the 1960s space explorations, including the Apollo moon landing. Without the ability to scan digital photographs from a camera, we would not have today’s images of planets, the sun, earth’s surface and much more. Medical advancements such as Sir Godfrey Hounsfield’s CAT scan can also be tributed to Kirsch’s research.5