Agenda for UC 50th Anniversary Celebration of the First Computer to Arrive on Campus

A celebration to mark the arrival of the first computer on UC’s campus and to open a history of computing exhibit is set for 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 4, 2008, in the library of UC’s College of Applied Science (CAS), 2220 Victory Parkway, Cincinnati 45206. (The CAS campus consists of five buildings. The library is located between the Administration Building and the Science Building. View this map to locate the library.)

Agenda

Introduction and welcome
Fred Siff, vice president and chief information office, UC

Brief overview of UC’s computing history
Russ McMahon, associate professor, information technology, and author of the forthcoming book, 50 Years of Computing at the University of Cincinnati, will deliver brief highlights of UC’s computing history, including

• A pioneering UC program to train workers with disabilities, specifically the visually impaired, as programmers.

• Opportunities for women created because of computing advances.

• Graduates from UC who made computing history.

• Efforts by UC employees to secure the university’s domain name.

UC’s computing history changed lives
Cincinnatian Michael Lichstein was 17-years-old when he, as a blind high school student, served as the pioneering “test driver” for a nationally ground-breaking UC program to train the visually impaired as computer programmers. Other universities from as far away as California and Canada followed UC’s lead. Lichstein will briefly speak regarding

• The effect of the program on his own life.

• The effect of the program on visually impaired individuals who signed up for UC’s program from as far away as New York State; Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.

Close and invitation for mini-tours of historical hardware and photographs from UC’s computing history
Fred Siff, vice president and chief information office, UC

• Hardware on display will date back to the 1930s calculators used by UC astronomers. (The needs of UC astronomers served as the impetus for UC’s acquisition of its first computer in 1958.) Photos of that first computer will be on display as will hardware used in the 50 years since.

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