Computer wizards on display

The Computer Museum of Boston in conjunction with Goldman Sachs & Co. and the Association for Computing Machinery are co-sponsoring next month a portrait exhibit of computer "wizards " including a few subjects who made their mark working for the federal government.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) the only subject featured in the exhibit who still works within the federal government was cited for his work on ensuring universal access to the nation's communications infrastructure and for coining the term "V-chip" for a device fitted on TV sets to block out unwanted shows.The exhibit "Wizards and Their Wonders: Portraits in Computing " also will display photographs and information on a few former federal government employees.

Anita Jones who retired from the Defense Department this spring as director of research and engineering is included for her work on secure systems.

John von Neumann who invented the concept of stored programs worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Richard Hamming whose "Hamming code" is still used today for detecting and correcting data errors worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos.

Jay Forrester developed the first real-time computer for the government at a federally funded laboratory.

Adm. Grace Murray Hopper also will be featured in the exhibit for her pioneering work on Cobol and Ada.

Ed Feigenbaum who recently retired as the chief Air Force scientist also will be included in the exhibit. Feigenbaum headed the team credited with developing the first expert system.

A preview of the exhibit will open in Washington D.C. on Oct. 6. The full program will be featured at the Computer Museum in Boston in November.