David Walden

Biography

David Walen's memoir of learning computing includes some general biographical information.

Involvement with the IEEE and IEEE Computer Society

Positions

Life member of the IEEE and member of the IEEE Computer Society.
Founding chair of the IEEE Internet Award committee (involved through the first several of its award cycles).
Member of the editorial board of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing since 2006.
- Anecdotes editor 2008-2012
- Interviews editor 2012-2013
- Anecdotes editor again starting in 2013
- Acting Editor-in-Chief June 2014 to December 2014
- Events and Sightings editor, starting mid-2020
- Computer Society Certificate of Appreciation in Recognition of Outstanding Service, awarded in 2013, for work with the Annals
- IEEE Computer Society Outstanding Contribution Award, June 2015: “In recognition of outstanding service to the success of the magazine IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, and in particular for his leadership as Acting Editor-in-Chief.”
Member of the IEEE Computer Society History Committee, 2011-to present
- 2011-2012 Chair of the IEEE Computer Society History Committee, during which time Walden acted as co-creator and publisher for the committee's website[link], and particularly for the history of computing in India by V.Rajaraman[link], the update of the Society's computing history timeline[link], and The Compatible Time-Sharing System (1961–1973) Fiftieth Anniversary Commemorative Overview[link].
- Continues as a member of the History Committee and as co-maintainer of its website.
- Computer Society Certificate of Appreciation in Recognition of Outstanding Service, awarded in 2011, for my work with the History Committee.
Member of the Computer Society's Golden Core, awarded in 2013, for "contributions to the Society's success."

A journey of involvement with the IEEE and IEEE Computer Society

A bit before 2000 Janet Abbate asked Walden if he had any ARPANET/Internet anecdotes that hw might write up for the Anecdotes column of the Annals of the History of Computing. Hw could not spare the time to do that then. A couple of years later Nils Liaaen and Walden wrote up their memories of the LKF Network in Norway. Abbate was no longer the Anecdotes editor and put Walden in touch with the then editor Anne Fitzpatrick who accepted the anecdote for publication. During the publication process, editor-in-chief Tim Bergin read the paper and asked Walden if he wanted to submit the LFK piece to the refereeing process for regular articles rather than have the piece published as an unrefereed anecdote. Walden preferred earlier publication as an anecdote, but he and Bergin remained in occasional email contract from that point on.

As a result of that first Annals anecdote experience, it occurred to Walden that he and Bernie Cosell had a possible anecdote about the creation of Telnet's negotiated options mechanism. They wrote and submitted this article, and it was accepted for publication.

Somewhere along the line, Tim Bergin asked Walden if he might be interested in pulling together a special issue of the Annals on computing at BBN. Walden checked with currnet and prior BBN employees who might be authors for papers about various parts of BBN's computing history and with Ray Nickerson about being co-editor of a special issue. Nickerson and a sufficient set of authors agreed, and work began on this special issue for Bergin. When Bergin's term ended and David Grier became editor-in-chief, the BBN team continued its work on what became two special issues.

Once the special issues on computing at BBN were published (2005 and 2006), David Grier asked Walden to join the editorial board of the Annals. As a member of board, Walden mostly participated in the refereeing process.

Grier noted Walden's efforts on behalf of the Annals to Jeff Yost who took over as Annals editor-in-chief when Grier's term ended. Yost appointed Walden as Anecdotes editor starting in 2008. Then for 2011 Yost asked Walden to start an Interviews column after which Walden phased out as Anecdotes editor by early 2012.

In the meantime, David Grier was moving upward in the Computer Society, and for 2011 he recommended Walden to president Sorel Reisman as chair of the Society's History Committee. Walden served as chair of the committee in 2011 and was reappointed for 2012 by 2012 president John Walz. He also simultaneously continued his service as Interviews editor for the Annals.

From June through December 2014 Walden served as acting editor-in-chief of the Annals during a search for a new Editor in Chief, at the request of the Society Magazines VP, Paolo Montuschi.

See the bulleted list above for the rest of the journey.

Partial bibliography of computing history publications for the IEEE and IEEE Computer Society

Interview with Michael R. Williams, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 43, no. 2, 2020, pp. 72-86.
Interview of Larry Bohn,IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 42, no. 1, 2020, pp. 51-62.
Mark Dionne and David Walden, Interleaf, Inc.—1981-2000, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 42, no. 1, 2020, pp. 63-74.
ARPANET 50th Anniversary Marked at 2019 AAAS Annual Meeting, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Events and Sightings column, vol. 41, no. 2, 2019, pp. 61-63.
Barbara Beeton, Karl Berry, and David Walden, TeX: A Branch in Desktop Publishing Evolution, Parts 1 and 2, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 40, no. 3, 2018, pp. 78-93, and vol. 41, no. 2, 2019, pp. 29-41.
Interview of Charles Bigelow, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, special issue on desktop computing, vol. 40, no. 3, 2018, pp. 95-103.
Editor's note on More about Atex, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, special issue on desktop computing, vol. 40, no. 3, 2018, pp. 32-38.
Report on two 50th anniversary computing events in Norway, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Events and Sightings column, vol. 39 no. 4, 2017, pp. 93-94.
Report on the Software Industry Special Interest Group's desktop-publishing pioneers meeting at the Computer History Museum, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Events and Sightings column, vol. 39 no. 3, 2017, pp. 65-66.
Review of Tracy Kidder book A Truck Full of Money, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, volume 38, number 4, 2016, pp. 95-96.
From the Editor's Desk, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, volume 36, number 3, 2014, p. 2.
Interview of Deborah Estrin (edited by Dag Spicer from the transcript of the original recording), IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, volume 36, number 3, 2014, pp. 64-69.
The Arpanet IMP Program: Retrospective and Resurrection, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, volume 36 number 2, 2014, pp. 28-39.
Book review, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 36 no. 1, 2014, pp. 71-73: The review covers The Essential Knuth, an interview of Donald Knuth by Edgar Daylight; Pluralism in Software Engineering: Turing Award Winner Peter Naur Explains, another interview booklet by Daylight; and Daylight's book Dawn of Software Engineering—from Turing to Dijkstra
Book review of History Hunting: A Guide for Fellow Adventurers by James W. Cortada, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing January-March 2012, pp. 9-11 (review starts at the bottom right of the first page of the PDF).
Interview of Rolf Skår, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing January-March 2013, pp. 72-77.
The full interview of Rolf Skår of which the Annals interview is a shortened version.
Interview of Peter Denning, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing October-December 2012, pp. 72-77. Full interview of Peter Denning of which the Annals interview is a shortened version.
Dedication of three new IEEE Milestones: LORAN, Whirlwind, and SAGE, IEEE History Center Newsletter, issue 90, November 2012, p. 7.
IEEE Computer Society History Activitie, IEEE Life Members Newsletter, June 2012, bottom of p. 5 to top of p. 6.
Interview of Albert Vezza, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing April-June 2012, pp. 80-84.
IEEE Packet-Speech Milestone Celebrated at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, April-June 2012, Events & Sightings column, pp. 67-69.
150th Anniversary and MIT Museum's Presentation on Project Whirlwind, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, April-June 2012, Events & Sightings column, pp. 60-63.
IEEE Packet Speech Milestone Celebrated at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, IEEE History Center Newsletter, issue 88, March 2012, p. 7.
Interview of Fernando Corbató, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, January-March 2012, pp. 83-87.
Interview of Ward Cunningham, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, October-December 2011, pp. 62-67.
Editor's Note, Anecdotes Department, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, October-December 2011, pp. 56.
Computer Society History Activities, Computer, November 2011, p. 72 (without author listed).
Fiftieth Anniversary of MIT's Compatible Time-Sharing System, Computer, November 2011, p. 71.
50th Anniversary of MIT's Compatible Time-Sharing System, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, October-December 2011, pp.~84-85.
The Compatible Time Sharing System (1961–1973): Fiftieth Anniversary Commemorative Overview, compiled and edited by David Walden and Tom Van Vleck, a print-and-web publication of the IEEE Computer Society History Committee, first printing June 2011.
Interview of Willis Ware, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, July-September 2011, pp. 67-73.
Book review of Bright Boys, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, July-September 2011, pp. 80-81.
Ray Nickerson and David Walden were the special issue editors of two special issues (April-June 2005 and January-March 2006) of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing on computer history at BBN. The articles in these issues and some additional content eventually resulted in the 2011 publication of book on BBN's computing history.
Users Group Celebrates Major Anniversary of TeX (June 28-30, 2010), IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Events and Sightings column,, vol. 33, no. 1, January-March 2011, pp. 78-79.
WiWiW Project Internet Pioneers Meeting (April 19, 2010), IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Events and Sightings column, vol. 32, no. 4, 2010, pp. 90-91.
The TeX Users Group holds its 30th annual conference, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Events and Sightings column, vol. 32, no. 1, January 2010 pp. 80-81.
Norsk Data: 40th Anniversary Celebrations</a>, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, volume 30 number 1, January-March 2008, Events and Sightings column, pp. 83-84; the report start at the bottom right of the page.
Ray Nickerson and David Walden were the special issue editors of two special issues (April-June 2005 and January-March 2006) of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing on computer history at BBN
Bernie Cosell and David Walden, Development of TELNET's Negotiated Options, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Volume 25, Number 2, April-June 2003, pp. 80-82.
Nils Liaaen and David Walden, Remembering the LFK Network, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, July-September 2002 issue (Vol. 24 No. 3), pp. 79-81.
Alexander McKenzie and David Walden, The Evolution of Host-to-Host Protocol Technology, Computer, vol. 12, no. 9, September 1979, pp. 29-38.
J. Davidson, W. Hathaway, N. Mimno, J. Postel, R. Thomas, and D. Walden, The ARPANET TELNET Protocol: Its Purpose, Principles, Implementation, and Impact on Host Operating System Design, Proceedings of the ACM/IEEE Fifth Data Communications Symposium, September 1977, pp. 4-10 to 4-18.