Donald Shell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1924-03-01)March 1, 1924 |
| Died | November 2, 2015(2015-11-02) (aged 91) |
| Alma mater | Michigan Tech University of Cincinnati |
| Known for | Shell sort |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics Computer science |
Donald L. Shell (March 1, 1924 – November 2, 2015) was an Americancomputer scientist who designed theShellsortsorting algorithm. He acquired hisPh.D. in mathematics from theUniversity of Cincinnati in 1959, and published the Shellsort algorithm in theCommunications of the ACM in July that same year.[1]
Donald Shell acquired aB.S. in Civil Engineering from the Michigan College of Mining and Technology which is nowMichigan Technological University. This was a four-year degree which he acquired in three years with the highest GPA given in the college's history. A record which persisted for more than 30 years. After acquiring his degree he went into theArmy Corps of Engineers, and from there to thePhilippines to help repair damages duringWorld War II. When he returned after the war, he married Alice McCullough and returned toMichigan Technological University, where he taught mathematics. In 1949 they moved toCincinnati, Ohio, for Don to work forGeneral Electric's engines division, where he developed a convergence algorithm and wrote a program to perform performance cycle calculations for GE's first aircraft jet engines. He also attended the University of Cincinnati, where in 1951 he acquired aM.S. in mathematics and, in 1959, acquired hisPh.D. in Mathematics. In July of that year he published theShellsort algorithm[1] and "The Share 709 System: A Cooperative Effort". In 1958, he andA. Spitzbart had published "A Chebycheff Fitting Criterion".
Although he is most widely known for hisShellsort algorithm, his Ph.D. is also considered by some to be the first major investigation of the convergence of infinite exponentials, with some very deep results of the convergence into the complex plane. This area has grown considerably and research related to it is now investigated in what is more commonly calledtetration. In October 1962 he wrote "On the Convergence of Infinite Exponentials" in theProceedings of the American Mathematical Society.
After acquiring his Ph.D., Shell moved toSchenectady, New York, to become Manager of Engineering for General Electric's new Information Services Department, the first commercial enterprise to link computers together using theclient–server architecture. This architecture is the fundamental design for theInternet. He worked withJohn George Kemeny andThomas Eugene Kurtz to commercialize theDartmouth Time-Sharing System in 1963.
In 1971 Shell wrote "Optimizing the Polyphase Sort" in the Communications of the ACM, and in 1972 he joined with a colleague, Ralph Mosher (who designed thewalking truck), to start a business, Robotics Inc., where he was the General Manager and chief software engineer. Four years later, in 1976, they sold the company and Shell returned toGeneral Electric Information Services Corporation.
In 1984, he retired and moved toNorth Carolina.[2]
He died at age 91 on 2 November 2015 in Asheville, North Carolina. He was survived by his wife Helen, his two sons, five of his six step sons and daughters and all of their spouses.[citation needed]
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Shell married Alice McCullough after returning from World War II. They had two sons. Alice became ill with cancer, and Shell cared for her for the last six years of her life. After Alice's death, Shell married Virginia Law, whose husband had died in Africa. After 30 years of marriage she died of congestive heart failure due to malaria contracted in Africa. Shell cared for her for the last years of her life.
At age 81, Shell married Helen Whiting.
