David C. Evans | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Cannon Evans (1924-02-24)February 24, 1924 Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
| Died | October 3, 1998(1998-10-03) (aged 74) Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
| Alma mater | University of Utah |
| Known for | Computer graphics |
| Spouse | Beverly Joy Frewin Evans |
| Children | 10, includingDavid F. Evans |
| Awards | IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award (1986)[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley University of Utah Evans & Sutherland |
| Thesis | Design and Operation of Two Electronic Computing Devices (1953) |
| Doctoral students | Alan Kay |
David Cannon Evans (February 24, 1924 – October 3, 1998) was the founder of thecomputer science department at theUniversity of Utah and co-founder (withIvan Sutherland) ofEvans & Sutherland, a pioneering firm incomputer graphics hardware.[2]
Evans was born inSalt Lake City. He attended the University of Utah and studied electrical engineering; he earned his Bachelor of Science in Physics in 1949 and his Doctorate in Physics in 1953.[3] Evans first worked at theBendix aviation electronics company, where he acted as project manager in 1955 to develop what some describe as an earlypersonal computer that ran on an interpretive operating system. TheBendix G-15 was a bulky unit about the size of a two-door refrigerator. He stayed with the company just long enough to manage the G-20 project.[4]
Evans became a faculty member of theUniversity of California, Berkeley. His first important work with graphics dates from that period, when he did several experiments on an IDIOM display hooked up to aDigital Equipment CorporationPDP-5.[citation needed]In 1963, he was co-Principal Investigator (withHarry Huskey) forproject Genie to produce an early multi-usertimesharing system. Students from this period includeButler Lampson andL. Peter Deutsch.[5]The system, which included key developments in the field ofvirtual memory, was sponsored by the US Defense Department'sAdvanced Research Projects Agency.[4]
In 1965, the University of Utah recruited him back to start their own computer science department.When he was building up the University of Utah department in 1968 he managed to convinceIvan Sutherland (who had funded Evans' DARPA research) to come toUtah, accepting the condition that they start a computer graphics company together. Evans retired from the company in 1994.Evans's students at Utah includedAlan Kay,Edwin Catmull,James H. Clark,John Warnock,Alan Ashton,Frank Crow,Jim Blinn,Bui Tuong Phong,Gary Hodgman, andHenri Gouraud.
Evans was a member ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He served as abranch president, a counselor inbishoprics andstake presidencies, and as ascout master for a total of 27 years.[6] Evans was awarded theSilver Beaver for his role in scouting.[4]
Evans married Joy Frewin. They had ten children, only seven of which lived to adulthood. One of these isDavid F. Evans, who became ageneral authority in the LDS Church. From 1984 to 1990, Joy Evans was a counselor in the general presidency of theRelief Society toBarbara W. Winder. At the time of his death on October 12, 1998, Evans had 39 living grandchildren and great grandchildren.
In 1996,Brigham Young University established the David C. Evans Chair of Computer Engineering and Graphics. Evans was at the ceremony where the founding of a chair in his honor was announced, but due to his suffering fromAlzheimer's disease, did not make any remarks at the ceremony.[6]
