Jay W Forrester

Graduating with an M.S. degree from MIT in 1945, Jay Forrester worked on a number of analog computer projects for the U.S. Navy. In 1948, when the demands of an aircraft stability analyzer appeard to outstrip the analog computing techniques of the day, Forrester began work on a digital machine, the Whirlwind I. It would advance the state of the computer art in many fundamental ways, including the development of high-speed circuits. Forrester led development of the Whirlwind I, one of the first high-speed digital computers, and devised magnetic core memory, which became the industry standard for years to come. Then he walked away from that research area at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to join the faculty of what is now the MIT Sloan School of Management. The Whirlwind was the first "real-time" computer, made possible by Forrester's development of "coincident-current" magnetic core memory, which remained the dominant memory technology until the 1970's. He is currently involved with the System Dynamics approach to education. Jay Wright Forrester was born in the now defunct community of Climax, Nebraska. In addition to his son, leaves a daughter, Judith, of Concord; another son, Ned, of Falmouth; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.