1998 SIGCHI Awards

Douglas C. Engelbart

Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart is the a true pioneer, where he established an unparalleled track record in predicting, designing, and implementing the future of organizational computing well before human computer interaction was even recognized as a field. From his early vision of turning organizations into augmented knowledge workshops, he went on to pioneer what is now known as collaborative hypermedia, knowledge management, community networking, and organizational transformation. Well-known technological firsts include the mouse, display editing, windows, cross-file editing, outline processing, hypermedia, and groupware. Integrated prototypes were in full operation under the NLS system, as early as 1968. In the last decade of its continued evolution, thousands of users have benefited from its unique team support capabilities. After 20 years directing the Augmentation Research Center (ARC) at Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International), and 11 years as Senior Scientist first at Tymshare, and then at McDonnell Douglas Corporation, Engelbart founded the Bootstrap Institute* with his daughter Christina, which he directed for 20 years, working closely with industry and government stakeholders to facilitate a collaborative implementation of his strategic vision. The Bootstrap Institute was subsequently renamed the Doug Engelbart Institute. Engelbart received numerous awards for outstanding lifetime achievement and ingenuity, including the National Medal of Technology, the Lemelson-MIT Prize, and ACM’s 1997 A.M. Turing Award. His life’s work, with his “big-picture” vision and persistent pioneering breakthroughs, has made a significant impact on the past, present, and future of personal, interpersonal, and organizational computing. (bio modified from http://www.dougengelbart.org/, 2013)