Harry Huskey, a programmer in the 1940s for the first all-purpose digital computer, ENIAC, died April 9. He was 101.

Dr. Huskey earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Idaho in 1937 and both a master’s and a doctorate in mathematics from Ohio State University in 1943. He then joined Penn, where he taught mathematics. After applying for work at Penn’s Moore School of Engineering, he was accepted and joined the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) project in 1945.

Dr. Huskey left the project in 1946 once the computer was working, and accepted an appointment at the British National Physical Laboratory. He later designed the Bendix G15, dubbed “the first personal computer,” in the 1950s. He taught at the University of California from 1954 until his retirement in 1986.

He was among those awarded medals by Penn in 1986 in recognition of their work on the ENIAC project (Almanac October 14, 1986). He also received the 1984 Centennial Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the 1982 Computer Pioneer Award from the IEEE Computer Society and was named a fellow of the Computer History Museum in 2013.

Dr. Huskey’s wife of 52 years, Velma, died in 1991. His second wife, Nancy (Whitney) died in 2015. He is survived by his children, Carolyn (Joe) Dickinson, Roxanne Dwyer, Doug (Anna) and Linda (Jerome) Retterath.

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