Dr. Ralph Gordon Selfridge passed away Sunday, 31 Aug 2008.
He is survived by his wife Dr. Betty Rushton; brother Oliver Selfridge; sister Jennifer Macleod; 12 step-children; 17 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
He was born in London, England in 1927, and sailed from Liverpool the day the first bombs hit London in 1939. He was the grandson of the founder of Selfridge's department store in London.
He attended Middlesex School in Concord, MA. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His master's degree was earned at Cornell University.
He worked for the US Navy at the China Lake Naval Ordnance Test Station. At China Lake projects required overcoming "impossible" timetables and doing things thats had never been done before. He was part of the design team for the Sidewinder missile, and worked on many special programs. The Navy sponsored the completion of his doctorate degree in mathematics at the University of Oregon.
He taught at Miami of Ohio University from 1959 to 1961 where he programmed an enormous IBM 700 computer, in tasks that included registration for other universities.
He was a professor of mathematics and computer science at UF from 1961 to 2002, pioneering in his field. Because of his work in the new field of computer science, he was called by many "the grandfather of digital simulation". For a time he was director of the U of F Computing Center (the predecessor of North-East Regional Data Center, NERDC) where the lessons from China Lake served him well.
Published in The Daily Independent, Ridgecrest, CA 5 Sep 2008.
He is survived by his wife Dr. Betty Rushton; brother Oliver Selfridge; sister Jennifer Macleod; 12 step-children; 17 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
He was born in London, England in 1927, and sailed from Liverpool the day the first bombs hit London in 1939. He was the grandson of the founder of Selfridge's department store in London.
He attended Middlesex School in Concord, MA. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His master's degree was earned at Cornell University.
He worked for the US Navy at the China Lake Naval Ordnance Test Station. At China Lake projects required overcoming "impossible" timetables and doing things thats had never been done before. He was part of the design team for the Sidewinder missile, and worked on many special programs. The Navy sponsored the completion of his doctorate degree in mathematics at the University of Oregon.
He taught at Miami of Ohio University from 1959 to 1961 where he programmed an enormous IBM 700 computer, in tasks that included registration for other universities.
He was a professor of mathematics and computer science at UF from 1961 to 2002, pioneering in his field. Because of his work in the new field of computer science, he was called by many "the grandfather of digital simulation". For a time he was director of the U of F Computing Center (the predecessor of North-East Regional Data Center, NERDC) where the lessons from China Lake served him well.
Published in The Daily Independent, Ridgecrest, CA 5 Sep 2008.
Dr. Ralph Gordon Selfridge passed away Sunday, 31 Aug 2008.
He is survived by his wife Dr. Betty Rushton; brother Oliver Selfridge; sister Jennifer Macleod; 12 step-children; 17 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
He was born in London, England in 1927, and sailed from Liverpool the day the first bombs hit London in 1939. He was the grandson of the founder of Selfridge's department store in London.
He attended Middlesex School in Concord, MA. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His master's degree was earned at Cornell University.
He worked for the US Navy at the China Lake Naval Ordnance Test Station. At China Lake projects required overcoming "impossible" timetables and doing things thats had never been done before. He was part of the design team for the Sidewinder missile, and worked on many special programs. The Navy sponsored the completion of his doctorate degree in mathematics at the University of Oregon.
He taught at Miami of Ohio University from 1959 to 1961 where he programmed an enormous IBM 700 computer, in tasks that included registration for other universities.
He was a professor of mathematics and computer science at UF from 1961 to 2002, pioneering in his field. Because of his work in the new field of computer science, he was called by many "the grandfather of digital simulation". For a time he was director of the U of F Computing Center (the predecessor of North-East Regional Data Center, NERDC) where the lessons from China Lake served him well.
Published in The Daily Independent, Ridgecrest, CA 5 Sep 2008.
He is survived by his wife Dr. Betty Rushton; brother Oliver Selfridge; sister Jennifer Macleod; 12 step-children; 17 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
He was born in London, England in 1927, and sailed from Liverpool the day the first bombs hit London in 1939. He was the grandson of the founder of Selfridge's department store in London.
He attended Middlesex School in Concord, MA. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His master's degree was earned at Cornell University.
He worked for the US Navy at the China Lake Naval Ordnance Test Station. At China Lake projects required overcoming "impossible" timetables and doing things thats had never been done before. He was part of the design team for the Sidewinder missile, and worked on many special programs. The Navy sponsored the completion of his doctorate degree in mathematics at the University of Oregon.
He taught at Miami of Ohio University from 1959 to 1961 where he programmed an enormous IBM 700 computer, in tasks that included registration for other universities.
He was a professor of mathematics and computer science at UF from 1961 to 2002, pioneering in his field. Because of his work in the new field of computer science, he was called by many "the grandfather of digital simulation". For a time he was director of the U of F Computing Center (the predecessor of North-East Regional Data Center, NERDC) where the lessons from China Lake served him well.
Published in The Daily Independent, Ridgecrest, CA 5 Sep 2008.
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