Per Brinch Hansen

Per Brinch Hansen (November 13, 1938 – July 31, 2007) was a Danish-American computer scientist known for his work in operating systems, concurrent programming and parallel and distributed computing.

Biography

Early life and education

Per Brinch Hansen was born in Frederiksberg, an enclave surrounded by Copenhagen, Denmark. His father, Jørgen Brinch Hansen, worked as a civil engineer, becoming a leading expert in soil mechanics, and later accepting a professorship at Technical University of Denmark. His mother, Elsebeth Brinch Hansen (née Ring), was the daughter of Danish composer Oluf Ring and worked as a hairdresser before marrying.

Brinch Hansen attended St. Jørgens Gymnasium and then studied electrical engineering at Technical University of Denmark where he sought an area to pursue that “was still in its pioneering phase” on the belief that “If a subject was being taught, it was probably already too late to make fundamental contributions.” After a seven-week student internship at IBM’s Hursley Laboratory in England, he decided to dedicate his career to computers. Initially focused on computer construction, reading a book on IBM’s Project Stretch that described computer organization from a programmer’s point of view refocused his interest toward becoming a computer architect.