History of Computers - David Packard
Introduction
David Packard (b. Sept. 7 1912 d. Mar 26 1996) was the influential co-founder of History of Computers - Hewlett-Packard. He also served as the Deputy Secretary of Defense and as a government advisor.
Overview
David Packard was born in Pueblo, Colorado and went to Stanford University starting in 1930, earning a bachelor of the arts degree in 1934 and a electrical engineering master's degree in 1939. He began work as an engineer for General Electric, but later that year, he partnered with William Hewlett, a former classmate in Stanford. With $538 dollars they started their business by selling a sound oscillator to Disney. David Packard first sold scientific testing equipment until World War Two, when his partner served in the army. [1]. When Hewlett was gone, Packard received a government contract for electronic measuring and safety equipment. In the 1960's, Hewlett and Packard invented the first electronic calculator as well as researching LED's. Because HP was behind in the computer industry, the two men decided to move on the printers, and introduced the Laserjet and the Thinkjet, which were compatible to any computer at the time.
Significance
In 1947, when HP became a legal company, Packard served as president until 1962, when he became CEO. After serving as Chairman of the Board for six years, President Nixon chose him as Deputy Secretary of Defense of the US from 1968 to 1971. As the 2nd highest ranking member of the Department of Defense, he brought a business mindset to the military, introducing the focus of resource management. He wrote the Packard Memo while in office, which stated that use of military forces in martial law was constitutional. After leaving office, he returned as chairman of the board for HP, but devoted most of his time to philanthropic work. He also was the head of many engineering firms as well as advising Boeing and Chevron. He died in 1996. [2]
