DAVID A. PATTERSON (University of California at Berkeley) has taught computer architecture since joining the faculty in 1977, and is holder of the E.H. and M.E. Pardee Chair of Computer Science.
At Berkeley, he led the design and implementation of RISC I, likely the
first VLSI Reduced
Instruction Set Computer. This research became the foundation of the SPARC
architecture, currently used by Fujitsu,
Sun Microsystems, and others. (In 1996
Microprocessor Report and COMDEX named SPARC as one of the most significant
microprocessors as part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the
microprocessor.) He was also a leader of the Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks
(RAID) project, which led to reliable storage systems from many companies.
These projects led to three distinguished
dissertation awards from the Association for
Computing Machinery (ACM). He was also involved in the Network of
Workstations (NOW) project, which
led to multitier architectures used by Internet companies such as Inktomi. His current research interests are
in the parallel computing revolution using via the Parallel Computing Laboratory (Par Lab)
and using the Research Accelerator for
Multiple Processors (RAMP) and in Reliable Adaptive Distributed systems in
the RAD Lab. He is also co-author
of five
books, including two with John Hennessy, President of Stanford University.
He is a member of both the National Academy of
Engineering and the National Academy of
Sciences, is a Fellow
of the Computer Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
(IEEE), and is also a Fellow
of the ACM. He received the inaugural
Outstanding Alumnus Award of the UCLA
Computer Science Department as part of its 25th Anniversary; he received
his A.B., M.S., and Ph.D degrees all from UCLA. In 1995 he received the IEEE Technical Achievement
Award. In 1998 he shared the inaugural Test of Time Award
with Garth Gibson and Randy Katz, given by the
Special Interest Group on Management of Data (SIGMOD) to the most influential paper
from the SIGMOD proceedings 10 years earlier. The following year they also
shared the IEEE Reynold
B. Johnson Information Storage Award "for the development of Redundant
Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)." In 2000 he shared the IEEE John von Neumann Medal
with John Hennessy
"for creating a revolution in computer architecture through their
exploration, populartization, and commercialization of architectural
innovations." In 2005 he shared Japan's Computer &
Communication award with Hennessy, was named to the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of
Fame, and received a Certificate of Congressional Recognition from
Congressman Michael Honda. In 2006 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the
inaugural Katayanagi
Prize from CMU. In 2007 he was named a Fellow of the Computer History Museum and a Fellow
of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science.
His teaching has been honored by his department in 1998 with the Diane S. McEntyre Award
for Excellence in Teaching, by the University of California in 1982
with the Distinguished
Teaching Award, by Upsilon Pi Epsilon honor scoiety with the Abacus Award in 2006, by ACM in 1991
with the Karl V. Karlstrom
Outstanding Educator Award, by IEEE in 1996 with the Undergraduate Teaching
Award, and by IEEE again in 2000 with the James H. Mulligan, Jr.
Education Medal "for inspirational teaching through the development of
creative curricula and teaching methodology, for important textbooks, and for
effective integration of education and research missions."
He has been chair of the CS Division
in the EECS department at Berkeley, the ACM Special Interest Group in Computer
Architecture (SIGARCH), and the Computing
Research Association (CRA). He was also elected President
of ACM for 2004 to 2006. He was a member of the National Academy of
Sciences Computer
Science and Telecommunications Board and the CRA
Board. He has consulted for several companies, including Digital (now HP), Hewlett Packard, Intel,
Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems, and is on the technical
advisory board of several companies.
His service has been honored witj the Distinguished
Service Award from the Computing Research Association, a Community Service Award from the Northern
California Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and by being
named a Lifetime National Associate
of the National Academies of Engineering and Sciences,
(Articles about
Patterson and his research.)
On the personal side, David married his high-school sweetheart in 1967. She is an
award-winning teacher of acting improvisation, is founder of EAST BAY IMpRoV, and her watercolors
have sold in local stores. (An interview with her
appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.) Their first son got a Masters degree in
Economics and is now a network administrator near Berkeley, and he lives with
his wife and child near Berkeley. He is founder and director of EAST BAY IMpRoV
Players. (A review of
an EBI show appeared in Urban View.) Their second son got a Master's degree in
social and decision sciences, and is now at Adobe systems. His second son lives
with his wife and two children near Berkeley.
Away from the computer, David enjoys soccer, mountain biking, weight lifting, and body
surfing,
