Codd, Edgar Frank

▪ 2004

“Ted” 

      British-born American computer scientist and mathematician (b. Aug. 23, 1923, Portland, Dorset, Eng.—d. April 18, 2003, Williams Island, Fla.), devised the “relational” data model, which led to the creation of the relational database, a standard method of retrieving and storing computer data. Codd interrupted his study of mathematics and chemistry at the University of Oxford to become a pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Following graduation in 1948 he moved to the U.S., and he later became a U.S. citizen. Codd joined IBM Corp. in 1949 and worked as a mathematical programmer on some of the company's early computers. He invented the technique of “multiprogramming,” which allows several programs to run at once. In 1967, after receiving a doctorate in computer science from the University of Michigan, Codd moved to IBM's Research Laboratory in San Jose, Calif. IBM was slow to adopt Codd's proposals, however, which allowed the Ingres and Oracle relational databases to debut before IBM's own SQL/DS was launched in 1981. Codd was honoured for his achievements by the Association of Computing Machinery, the British Computer Society, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. In 1981 Codd received the A.M. Turing Award, the highest honour for computer science.

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