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"The first three socioeconomic revolutions were all based on things—the plow for the agrarian revolution, the motor for the industrial revolution and the computer for the information revolution. Perhaps the time has come for the world to consider a fourth revolution, aimed no longer at objects but at understanding the most precious resource on earth—ourselves."-Michael Dertouzos, Scientific American, August 1999

 

Michael Dertouzos

Michael Dertouzos - leader, colleague, and friend to many of us at Project MAC, LCS, and CSAIL - died on August 27, 2001. Shortly  thereafter, the three of us discussed the idea of creating an electronic memorial dedicated in his memory. While we all agreed that this was a great idea, we didn't get around to it until many years later.

On the 10-year anniversary of Michael's passing, we take a moment to pause and reflect upon the life of a legendary leader, an influential technologist and a compassionate humanitarian. The web site is intended to be a living memorial. Contents will continue to be added. We look forward to you contributions and comments. 

John Guttag, Steve Ward, and Victor Zue

 



Remembrances

Most of us at CSAIL remember Michael as a colleague at MIT.  My perspective was different - during most of his years as Director of LCS, I was a colleague at IBM Research. Through Michael, MIT was a unique institution to interact with.  At almost every other academic institution I visited, I heard about individual projects.  From Michael I heard broad, overarching...
Jeff Jaffe, CSAIL
August 18 2011