Ak1 dec2006

Alan Kotok Timeline

By brookecambareri
  • Alan Kotok was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Alan Kotok was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Began his undergraduate degree in the fall
  • Joined the Tech Model Railroad Club

    Joined the Tech Model Railroad Club

    Soon after starting college in the fall, Kotok joined TMRC

  • Enrolled in John McCarthy's programming class

    In Spring 1959, Kotok enrolled in the first ever programming class available for freshmen
  • Began working on developing McCarthy's IBM 704 chess-playing program

    Began working on developing McCarthy's IBM 704 chess-playing program

    Kotak asked McCarthy if he had any projects he and his friends could work on and in the summer of 1959, they began working on McCarthy's project
  • Period: to

    Helped in developing the Expansive Tape Recorder

    Kotak worked with David Gross to develop the Expansive Tape Recorder, a digital audio program
  • Started project to write a FORTRAN complier for the PDP-4

    Started project to write a FORTRAN complier for the PDP-4

  • Developed the first video game joystick for Spacewar!

    Developed the first video game joystick for Spacewar!

    Helped with developing the first video game by creating the first video game joystick
  • Thesis on chess program was published as an artificial intelligence memo

    Thesis on chess program was published as an artificial intelligence memo

    Kotak wrote his final thesis on McCarthy's chess-playing program, and shortly after his thesis was published as an artificial intelligence memo from the Artificial Intelligence Lab
  • Period: to

    Involved in system development for the PDP-1 at MIT

    Although he did not write any of its code, he was involved in the initial development of the PDP-1
  • Period: to

    Worked at Digital Equipment Corporation

    Began working at DEC in the summer of 1962, and retired in 1996 after 34 years with the company

  • Taught logistic design at the University of California Berkeley

    Taught classes for one year as a visiting faculty member
  • Helped to found the World Wide Web Consortium with Tim Berners-Lee

    Helped to found the World Wide Web Consortium with Tim Berners-Lee

  • Retired from Digital Equipment Corporation after 34 years of service

  • Rejoined W3C as Associate Chair

    Rejoined W3C as Associate Chair

    After taking a brief period away from the World Wide Web, Kotok returned as Associate Chair, where he was responsible for managing contractual relations with W3C members
  • Alan Kotok passed away

    Alan Kotok passed away

    at age 64, Kotok passed away due to a heart attack