Computer Scientists from United States

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Americans Computer Scientists of all time. This list of famous Americans Computer Scientists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Americans Computer Scientists.

1. #1

   

   Richard Stallman

   b. 1953

   HPI 80.58107 langs

   Richard Stallman is a computer programmer who is most famous for his work on the GNU Project, which he started in 1983. The GNU Project's...Read moreShow less

   Richard Stallman is a computer programmer who is most famous for his work on the GNU Project, which he started in 1983. The GNU Project's goal is to create a free operating system that would be compatible with Unix.

2. #2

   

   Grace Hopper

   1906 - 1992

   HPI 80.2973 langs

   Grace Hopper was most famous for her work in the field of computer programming. She was a pioneer in the field of computer programming, and...Read moreShow less

   Grace Hopper was most famous for her work in the field of computer programming. She was a pioneer in the field of computer programming, and was the first person to develop a compiler for a computer programming language.

3. #3

   

   John McCarthy

   1927 - 2011

   HPI 72.2761 langs

   John McCarthy is most famous for his work in Artificial Intelligence, including his development of LISP and the design of the Stanford...Read moreShow less

   John McCarthy is most famous for his work in Artificial Intelligence, including his development of LISP and the design of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

4. #4

   

   Barbara Liskov

   b. 1939

   HPI 71.5047 langs

   American computer scientist

5. #5

   

   Dennis Ritchie

   1941 - 2011

   HPI 71.2984 langs

   Dennis Ritchie is most famous for his work on the C programming language and the Unix operating system.

6. #6

   

   Frances E. Allen

   1932 - 2020

   HPI 70.8241 langs

   American computer scientist

7. #7

   

   Donald Knuth

   b. 1938

   HPI 70.3278 langs

   Donald Knuth is most famous for his work in computer science, and in particular, for the development of the TeX typesetting system.

8. #8

   

   Ray Kurzweil

   b. 1948

   HPI 68.4245 langs

   Ray Kurzweil is an inventor and futurist who has been called "the restless genius." He has been a pioneer in the fields of computer science,...Read moreShow less

   Ray Kurzweil is an inventor and futurist who has been called "the restless genius." He has been a pioneer in the fields of computer science, artificial intelligence, and text-to-speech synthesis.

9. #9

   

   Marvin Minsky

   1927 - 2016

   HPI 68.3856 langs

   American cognitive scientist

10. #10

    

    John Cocke

    1925 - 2002

    HPI 68.3229 langs

    American computer scientist and mathematician