Ruth Teitelbaum
Original ENIAC Programmer & Software Educator
Ruth Teitelbaum
Original ENIAC Programmer & Software Educator
Biographical Overview
Programmed the ENIAC as one of its six original programmers and became the primary software educator who trained the next generation of American computer scientists. When the ENIAC was transferred to the Ballistic Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground in 1947, Teitelbaum moved with the machine to establish the first systematic curriculum for digital computer operation.
"Computers cannot think on their own. Their power comes entirely from the precision of the logic you feed into them."
— Ruth Teitelbaum
Historical Context & Impact
Ruth Teitelbaum was the only one of the original six ENIAC programmers who chose to travel with the 30-ton computer when it was disassembled and trucked to Aberdeen Proving Ground after WWII. She spent the next two years teaching military officers and university mathematicians how to program electronic computers from scratch.
