Cuthbert Corwin Hurd 1911-1996

HURD, LONG, SHAPER, HAGEMANN, NOWICKI, LUKANOVICH

Posted By: C. Tucker (email)
Date: 4/2/2011 at 11:24:42

Times Republican
Marshalltown, IA [Thursday 6-6-1996] p. 3A

CUTHBERT C. HURD, 85

POROTLA VALLEY, Calif. --- Cuthbert Corwin Hurd, 85, died May 22 at his home in Portola Valley, Calif. Memorial services will be held at a later date in Bethel Grove Cemetery, Liscomb. Memorials may be given to the Active Living Institute, 167 Bolivar Lane, Portola Valley, Calif., 94028. He was born April 5, 1911, in Estherville to former are residents Harlan and Olive Long Hurd. He received his A. B. degree from Drake University, Des Moines, in 1932. He earned his M. S. degree from Iowa State University in 1934 and his Ph.D. From the University of Illinois in 1936. He joined IBM in 1949, where he formed and became the director of the applied science department. He served as a consultant to IBM from 1962 to 1982 on several projects. He was chairman of the board of Computer Usage Co. from 1962 to 1974 and was chairman of Picodyne Corp. from 1978 to 1986. At his death, he was chief scientist of Northpoint Software Ventures. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, life fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Xi. Survivors include his wife Bettie; five children, Steven Hurd, Diana Shaper, Susan Hagemann, Elizabeth Nowicki and Victoria Lukanovich; six grandchildren; and area cousins.

New York Times
New York, NY [Sunday 6-2-1996] On-Line Edition

CUTHBERT HURD, 85, COMPUTER PIONEER AT I.B.M.

Cuthbert C. Hurd, a computer scientist and entrepreneur who was instrumental in helping the International Business Machines Corporation develop its first general-purpose computer, died on May 22 at his home in Portola Valley, Calif. He was 85. Dr. Hurd was a mathematician at the Atomic Energy Commission laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., when he joined I.B.M. in 1949 as its director of applied science. A year later, after the outbreak of the Korean War, he was one of two people assigned to determine how I.B.M. could contribute to the war effort. Making a bold proposal, Dr. Hurd and his partner, James Birkenstock, recommended that the company design and build a general-purpose computer, bearing the heavy expense itself so that I.B.M. would own the patents. The new machine, the I.B.M. 701, cost $3 million to develop and was introduced with great fanfare in 1952, putting I.B.M. on the path to becoming the dominant force in the computer industry. Dr. Hurd went on to help develop several other I.B.M. computers and served as a consultant to the company for years after leaving in 1962 to become chairman of the board of the Computer Usage Company, the first independent computer software company. He was later appointed chairman of the Picodyne Corporation, which specialized in educational software, and in 1984 he co-founded Quintus Computer Systems, which was devoted to the commercialization of artificial intelligence. At the time of his death, he was the chief scientist of Northpoint Software Ventures Inc., a developer of risk management software. Born in Estherville, Iowa, Dr. Hurd graduated from Drake University in 1932 and received a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Illinois in 1936. He is survived by his wife, Bettie, also of Portola Valley; a son, Steven Hurd of Everett. Wash.; four daughters, Diana Shaper of Pleasanton, Calif., Susan Hagemann of Rio Dell, Calif., Elizabeth Nowicki of Los Altos, Calif., and Victoria Lukanovich of Palo Alto, Calif., and six grandchildren.