David A. Patterson

At Berkeley, he led the design and implementation of RISC I, likely the first VLSI Reduced Instruction Set Computer. This research became the foundation of the SPARC architecture, currently used by Fujitsu, Sun Microsystems, and others. (In 1996 Microprocessor Report and COMDEX named SPARC as one of the most significant microprocessors as part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the microprocessor.) He was also a leader of the Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) project, which led to reliable storage systems from many companies. These projects led to three distinguished dissertation awards from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He was also involved in the Network of Workstations (NOW) project, which led to multitier architectures used by Internet companies such as Inktomi. His current research interests are in the parallel computing revolution using via the  Parallel Computing Laboratory (Par Lab) and using the Research Accelerator for Multiple Processors (RAMP) and in Reliable Adaptive Distributed systems in the RAD Lab.

In the past he has been chair of the CS Division in the EECS department at Berkeley, the ACM Special Interest Group in Computer Architecture (SIGARCH), and the Computing Research Association (CRA). He was also President of ACM. He was a member of the National  Academy of Sciences Computer Science and Telecommunications Board and the CRA Board. He has consulted for several companies, including Digital (now Compaq), Hewlett Packard, Intel, and Sun Microsystems, and is on the technical advisory board of several companies. He is also co-author of five books, including two with John Hennessy, President of Stanford University.

He is a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences, is a Fellow of the Computer Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and is also a Fellow of the ACM.  He received the inaugural Outstanding Alumnus Award of the UCLA Computer Science Department as part of its 25th Anniversary.  In 1995 he received the IEEE Technical Achievement Award. In 1998 he shared the inaugural Test of Time Award with Garth Gibson and Randy Katz, given by the Special Interest Group on Management of Data (SIGMOD) to the most influential paper from the SIGMOD proceedings 10 years earlier. The following year they also shared the IEEE Reynold B. Johnson Information Storage Award "for the development of Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)." In 2000 he shared the IEEE John von Neumann Medal with John Hennessy  "for creating a revolution in computer architecture through their exploration, populartization, and commercialization of architectural innovations." In 2005 he shared Japan's Computer & Communication award with Hennessy and was named to the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame. In 2006 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2007 he was named a Fellow of the Computer History Museum.

His teaching has been honored by his department in 1998 with the Diane S. McEntyre Award for Excellence in Teaching,  by the University of California in 1982 with the Distinguished Teaching Award, by the ACM in 1991 with the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award, by IEEE in 1996 with  the Undergraduate Teaching Award, and by the IEEE again in 2000 with the  James H. Mulligan, Jr. Education Medal "for inspirational teaching through the development of creative curricula and teaching methodology, for important textbooks, and for effective integration of education and research missions."

His service has been honored by the Distinguished Service Award from the Computing Research Association.  

From 1983 to 1993, Dr. Hennessy was director of the Computer Systems Laboratory, a research and teaching center operated by the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science that fosters research in computer systems design. He served as chair of computer science from 1994 to 1996 and, in 1996, was named dean of the School of Engineering. As dean, he launched a five-year plan that laid the groundwork for new activities in bioengineering and biomedical engineering. In 1999, he was named provost, the university’s chief academic and financial officer. As provost, he continued his efforts to foster interdisciplinary activities in the biosciences and bioengineering and oversaw improvements in faculty and staff compensation. In October 2000, he was inaugurated as Stanford University’s 10th president. In 2005, he became the inaugural holder of the Bing Presidential Professorship.

A pioneer in computer architecture, in 1981 Dr. Hennessy drew together researchers to focus on a computer architecture known as RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer), a technology that has revolutionized the computer industry by increasing performance while reducing costs. In addition to his role in the basic research, Dr. Hennessy helped transfer this technology to industry. In 1984, he cofounded MIPS Computer Systems, now MIPS Technologies, which designs microprocessors. In recent years, his research has focused on the architecture of high-performance computers.

Dr. Hennessy is a recipient of the 2000 IEEE John von Neumann Medal, the 2000 ASEE Benjamin Garver Lamme Award, the 2001 ACM Eckert-Mauchly Award, the 2001 Seymour Cray Computer Engineering Award, a 2004 NEC C&C Prize for lifetime achievement in computer science and engineering and a 2005 Founders Award from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences, and he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

He has lectured and published widely and is the co-author of two internationally used undergraduate and graduate textbooks on computer architecture design. Dr. Hennessy earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Villanova University and his master’s and doctoral degrees in computer science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.