Famous British Computer Scientists

Vote for Your Favourite British Computer Scientists

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 1 
Alan Turing
(English Mathematician Who is Considered as the Father of Theoretical Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence)
Alan Turing
69
Birthdate: June 23, 1912
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Maida Vale, London, England
Died: June 7, 1954

Regarded as the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, Alan Turing was a distinguished mathematician and logician. During WWII, he successfully broke the challenging German Enigma machine codes thereby reducing the duration of war by a couple of years. The scientist, who was convicted for being gay, has been an inspiration for numerous films, plays and novels.

 2 
Tim Berners-Lee
(Computer Scientist and Inventor of the World Wide Web)
Tim Berners-Lee
39
Birthdate: June 8, 1955
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: London, England

Widely known as ten inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee made the first communication between an HTTP client and server through the internet in 1989. He is associated with various organizations, such as the W3C and the World Wide Web Foundation, and has received the knighthood, too.

 3 
Charles Babbage
(Father of the computer)
Charles Babbage
14
Birthdate: December 26, 1791
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: London, England
Died: October 18, 1871
Charles Babbage, or the “father of the computer,” invented the prototype of the world’s first mechanical calculator, the Difference Engine. With the help of mathematician Ada Lovelace, he also created the Analytical Engine, the first general-purpose computer and a precursor of the modern computer, with its looping and sequential mechanism.
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 4 
Geoffrey Hinton
(Computer scientist)
Geoffrey Hinton
8
Birthdate: December 6, 1947
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Wimbledon

After gaining a degree in psychology, Geoffrey Hinton earned a PhD in artificial intelligence. The Google VP is a Turing Award-winning computer scientist and also teaches at the University of Toronto. A Fellow of the Royal Society, he has revolutionized neural network research and has co-written about 200 papers.

 5 
Tony Hoare
(Computer scientist)
Tony Hoare
14
Birthdate: January 11, 1934
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Colombo, Sri Lanka

Tony Hoare is a British computer scientist who is credited with developing the sorting algorithm quicksort. He is also credited with developing Hoare logic, a formal system for verifying program correctness. Over the years, Tony Hoare has received several prestigious awards for his contribution to computer science.

 6 
Sophie Wilson
(English Computer Scientist)
Sophie Wilson
8
Birthdate: 1957 AD
Birthplace: Leeds, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

The brain behind the Acorn Micro-Computer, Sophie Wilson also contributed to the BBC Micro and ARM architecture. During her first summer vacation at Cambridge, she designed an automated cow-feeder. Born Roger Wilson, she went through a sex-change surgery in 1994. She is also associated with local theater groups.

 7 
Mark Shuttleworth
(Entrepreneur, Astronaut, Engineer, Inventor, Scientist, Blogger, Businessperson, Computer scientist)
Mark Shuttleworth
8
Birthdate: September 18, 1973
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Welkom

Mark Shuttleworth is a South African-British entrepreneur. He is credited with founding Canonical, the company that developed the popular Linux-based Ubuntu operating system. Mark Shuttleworth became the first African from an independent country and the first South African to travel to space; he traveled as a space tourist in 2002.

 8 
Clive Sinclair
(Entrepreneur, Engineer, Inventor, Computer scientist)
Clive Sinclair
5
Birthdate: July 30, 1940
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Surrey

A consumer electronics pioneer, entrepreneur Clive Sinclair began his business venture selling radio and amplifier kits. He went on to launch the word’s first pocket calculator and later also worked on products such as digital watches and pocket TV. He is a fan of poker and is a Mensa member.

 9 
Michael Moritz
(Computer scientist)
Michael Moritz
5
Birthdate: September 12, 1954
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Cardiff

Welsh venture capitalist and former journalist Michael Moritz was earlier associated with Time as a writer. Now a partner at Sequoia Capital, he has invested in and been part of the boards of organizations such as Google, PayPal, and Yahoo. He penned The Little Kingdom, the first-known history of Apple.

 10 
Stephen Wolfram
(Mathematician, Physicist, Computer scientist, Businessperson, University teacher, Patent inventor, Writer)
Stephen Wolfram
10
Birthdate: August 29, 1959
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: London

Stephen Wolfram is a British-American computer scientist, physicist, and businessman, best known for his work in computer science, mathematics, and theoretical physics. He is a  fellow of the American Mathematical Society. As a businessman, he is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, a software company. 

 11 
David Deutsch
(British Physicist Known for Pioneering the Field of 'Quantum Computation')
David Deutsch
3
Birthdate: May 18, 1953
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Haifa, Israel

David Deutsch is a British physicist, currently serving as a visiting professor at the University of Oxford. He is a pioneer in the field of quantum computation and gave a description for a quantum Turing machine. He is a proponent of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. He received the Dirac Prize of the Institute of Physics in 1998. 

 12 
Kevin Warwick
(Engineer, Writer, University teacher, Computer scientist)
Kevin Warwick
7
Birthdate: February 9, 1954
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Coventry

A professor at the Coventry and Reading universities, engineer Kevin Warwicke specializes in artificial intelligence, robotics, and biomedical engineering. One of his most interesting research interests is the possibility of creating cyborgs, which has earned him the nickname Captain Cyborg. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from several universities.

 13 
Edgar F. Codd
(British Computer Scientist and Mathematician Who Devised the ‘Relational Data Model')
Edgar F. Codd
5
Birthdate: August 19, 1923
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Fortuneswell, England
Died: April 18, 2003

Turing Award-winning computer scientist Edgar F. Codd is best remembered for his relational data model, which contributed to the development of the relational database used in storing and retrieving computer data. An Oxford graduate, he had also worked for the army during World War II.

 14 
Martin Fowler
(Software Developer)
Martin Fowler
5
Birthdate: 1963 AD
Birthplace: Walsall, United Kingdom

Software engineer Martin Fowler, who works as a chief scientist at ThoughtWorks, has also penned numerous books on software development, such as Refactoring and The Adventures of Dai Dreaming. He was one of the signatories of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development and runs a bliki.

 15 
Steve Shirley
(Computer scientist, Feminist)
Steve Shirley
7
Birthdate: September 16, 1933
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Dortmund

Born Vera Buchthal, Steve Shirley moved from Germany to Britain as a child refugee during the Nazi regime. Later, going by the name Stephanie Brook, she began learning coding. Battling a male-dominated workplace environment, she changed her name to Steve. The celebrated scientist now runs a charitable foundation.

 16 
Leslie Valiant
(Computer scientist)
Leslie Valiant
3
Birthdate: March 28, 1949
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Budapest, Hungary
 17 
Stuart J. Russell
(British Computer Scientist Known for His Contributions to Artificial Intelligence)
Stuart J. Russell
4
Birthdate: 1962 AD
Birthplace: Portsmouth, England
 18 
Jeff Minter
(Programmer, Engineer, Computer scientist)
Jeff Minter
4
Birthdate: April 22, 1962
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Reading

Known as Yak on all online forums, video-game designer and programmer Jeff Minter is also the founder of Llamasoft. His games often include characters such as llamas and camels and a healthy dose of psychedelics. He has also appeared in the movie Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.

 19 
David J. C. MacKay
(Physicist, Computer scientist, Professor)
David J. C. MacKay
4
Birthdate: April 22, 1967
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Stoke-on-Trent
Died: April 14, 2016

David J. C. MacKay was a British mathematician, physicist, and academic. He studied at the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology. As an academic, he served as the Regius Professor of Engineering in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. In 2009, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). 

 20 
Donald Davies
(Computer Scientist)
Donald Davies
4
Birthdate: June 7, 1924
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Treorchy, Wales
Died: May 28, 2000
 21 
Adam Osborne
(He introduced the Osborne 1, the first commercially successful portable computer)
Adam Osborne
3
Birthdate: March 6, 1939
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Bangkok, Thailand
Died: March 18, 2003
 22 
Alan Cox
(Programmer, Blogger, Computer scientist)
Alan Cox
4
Birthdate: July 22, 1968
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Solihull
 23 
David Wheeler
(Former Computer scientist known for Burrows–Wheeler transform (BWT), Tiny Encryption Algorithm, Wheeler Jump, WAKE, EDSAC)
David Wheeler
1
Birthdate: February 9, 1927
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Died: December 13, 2004
 24 
Simon Peyton Jones
(Computer scientist)
Simon Peyton Jones
1
Birthdate: January 18, 1958
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: South Africa
 25 
Maurice Wilkes
(British Computer Scientist Who Designed and Helped Build the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC))
Maurice Wilkes
4
Birthdate: June 26, 1913
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Dudley, Worcestershire, England
Died: November 29, 2010

British computer scientist Sir Maurice Vincent Wilkes is noted for constructing the early British computer Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) and for inventing microprogramming. He designed and helped build the EDSAC, one of the earliest stored program computers which became a full-scale operational computer. The concept of microprogramming developed by him also greatly simplified the development of CPU.

 26 
Tom Kilburn
(Computer scientist)
Tom Kilburn
0
Birthdate: August 11, 1921
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Yorkshire, England
Died: January 17, 2001
 27 
Robin Milner
(Computer Scientist)
Robin Milner
1
Birthdate: January 13, 1934
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Yealmpton, England, United Kingdom
Died: March 20, 2010
 28 
Nigel Shadbolt
(Professor)
Nigel Shadbolt
0
Birthdate: April 9, 1956
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: London, England
 29 
Roger Needham
(Computer Scientist)
Roger Needham
0
Birthdate: February 9, 1935
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Sheffield, England
Died: March 1, 2003
 30 
Steve Grand
(Computer scientist)
Steve Grand
0
Birthdate: February 12, 1958
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: United Kingdom
 31 
Nigel Roberts
(British Computer Scientist)
Nigel Roberts
0
Birthplace: Liverpool, England
 32 
Michael Fourman
(Computer Scientist)
Michael Fourman
0
Birthdate: September 12, 1950
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Oxford, England
 33 
David Caminer
(Computer Scientist)
David Caminer
0
Birthdate: June 26, 1915
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: London, England
Died: June 19, 2008
 34 
Austin Tate
(English Professor)
Austin Tate
2
Birthdate: May 12, 1951
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Knottingley, West Yorkshire, England
 35 
Chrisanthi Avgerou
(Computer scientist)
Chrisanthi Avgerou
7
Birthdate: 1954 AD
Birthplace: Greece

Born in Greece, Chrisanthi Avgerou later pursued her studies and research work in information systems in England. The LSE alumna is now a professor at the same institute. She is known for her research on the role of ICT in bringing about organizational change and socio-economic development.