Frances Allen, whose work on compiling computers helped found a foundation for much of the modern computer program, died on August 4, her 88th birthday. She was the first woman to win the Turing Award, and the first female IBM colleague. Allen aimed to make the slow compilation process – converting software programs into ones and zeros – more efficient. The work became a feature of her career.
After obtaining a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan, Allen took a job at IBM Research in Poughkeepsie, NY in 1957, intending to stay alone until she had paid off her student loan debt. She taught IBM employees the basics of her new Fortran language, and later became one of three designers for the Stretch-Harvest project.
Allen also served as IBM’s language liaison with the National Security Agency, where it assisted in the design and construction of Alpha, which IBM describes as “a very high language-breaking language that had the ability to create new alphabets outside the alphabet-defined system. . ” The New York Times objection to Allen notes that the Stretch-Harvest machine was used to analyze communications intercepted by American spies. Allen helped build the compiler, and the programming language.
In 2002 New York Times profile, Allen said there was a lot of initial skepticism from Fortran and how effective it can be to make computer programming easier and more efficient, which has been a major focus of her career. ” There was enormous resistance, ” she said. ” They were convinced that no language at a higher level might do a job as well as they could in assembly. ” ‘But the work drew her interest, she later said,’ because it was organized in a way that gave a direct legacy to modern compilers. ”
Allen helped build an experimental compiler for IBM’s Advanced Computing system, and from 1980 to the mid – 1990s, she led a research team at IBM working on the new concept of parallel computing, which a much was used in personal computers. She also helped develop software for IBM’s Blue Gene supercomputer project.
IBM said in a rating that Allen has made seminal contributions to programming and compiler research. She also published several articles on programming optimization, control stream analysis, and in 1972 co-wrote “A Catalog of Optimizing Transformations” with fellow IBM computer scientist John Cocke.
Allen spent 45 years at IBM, retiring in 2002. She received the Turing Award in 2006. A strong supporter of mentoring other women in programming, Allen was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame and received the Augusta Ada Lovelace Award from the Association for Women in Computing, according to IBM.
“She broke the glass ceiling,” said her colleague Mark Wegman New York Times. “At that moment, no one thought anyone like her could achieve what she achieved.”
