Biography:Helene Kulsrud

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Short description: Computer scientist
Helene Kulsrud
Helene Kulsrud.jpg
Born1933[1]
Other namesH.E. Kulsrud
Laney Kulsrud

Helene E. (née Steinman) Kulsrud is a computer scientist known for her work developing graphical languages and compilers for the Cray-1 and other Cray super computers[2] and debugging programs that allowed a user to interactively troubleshoot computer issues.

Education and career

Kulsrud earned a B.A. in mathematics from Smith College in 1953[3] and has an M.A. in astrophysics from the University of Chicago (1955).[4][1](p465) She was a member of the honor society Phi Beta Kappa and member of the Association for Computing Machinery.[4]

Kulsrud worked at the Educational Testing Service from 1956 until 1957, serving as the head programmer.[1](p495) She then joined RCA in 1957[4] where she remained until 1965. From 1965 until 1966 she was a research associate at Yale University.[5] In 1968 when she joined the Communications Research Division (CRD) of the Institute for Defense Analyses in Princeton, New Jersey, and as of 1984 she was the deputy head of the institute.[1](p465,505)

Kulsrud was a member of the Cray User Group, which shared software, developments, improvements, and suggestions for future hardware for Cray supercomputers; she served as president from 1985 at least to 1986.[citation needed]

Kulsrud also worked on the U.S Department of Energy's Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee from 2000 to 2004.[6][7]

Work

Kulsrud is known for her work in establishing the groundwork for graphical computer languages.[8][9] While working at the Educational Testing Service she developed the use of computers to present SAT scores and statistically analyzed the results of the tests.[1](p495) During her time at Yale, she developed a general-purpose graphics language that could be used on multiple graphics devices.[1](p503) While at RCA Laboratories she combined her interest in mathematics and astronomy, writing programs designed to find solutions of differential equations.[10] She also developed compilers,[1](p465) a debugging system for RCA computers that allowed the user to interactively debug code,[1](p465) and new computer language, IDAL and the compiler needed to run the language on the Cray-1 super computer.[11][1](p465) She also contributed to research on sonic booms.[12][13]

Selected publications

Awards and honors

Her work earned her and her team awards including a 1961 RCA Laboratories achievement award for her work on electron guns and a 1966 RCA team achievement for her work on Spectra computers.[1](p448) In 1984 Kulsrud received a YWCA Tribute to Women Award.[14][15]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Autumn Stanley (1995). Mothers and daughters of invention. Internet Archive. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-2197-8. http://archive.org/details/mothersdaughters00stan. 
  2. "CUG grows to meet user needs". Cray Channels (Minneapolis, MN: Cray Research, Inc.) 7 (2). Summer 1985. https://cray-history.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/cc_v07_n2_OCRNew.pdf. 
  3. Smith College (December 22, 2023). Smith College Catalogue 1952–1953. College Archives Smith College Libraries. Smith College. pp. 158. http://archive.org/details/smithcata4950smit. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Kulsrud, H.E. (June 1967). "A programming system for electron optical simulation". RCA Review 28 (2): 351–365. 
  5. "Yale adding husband, wife team to staff". Hartford Courant: pp. 21. April 6, 1966. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98831954/yale-adding-husband-wife-team-to-staff/. 
  6. "Minutes for the Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee Meeting". November 2000. https://science.osti.gov/-/media/ascr/ascac/pdf/meetings/nov00/Minutes.pdf. 
  7. "Minutes for the Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee Meeting". April 2004. https://science.osti.gov/-/media/ascr/ascac/pdf/meetings/april04/Minutes.pdf. 
  8. Tutorial and selected readings in interactive computer graphics. Internet Archive. Silver Spring, Md. : IEEE Computer Society Press ; Los Angeles Ca. : IEEE Computer Society [distributor]. 1980. ISBN 978-0-8186-0266-5. http://archive.org/details/tutorialselected0000unse. 
  9. Kulsrud, H. E. (1968). "Programming Languages: A general purpose graphic language" (in en). Communications of the ACM 11 (4): 247–254. doi:10.1145/362991.363003. ISSN 0001-0782. 
  10. Kulsrud, H. E. (1961). "A practical technique for the determination of the optimum relaxation factor of the successive over-relaxation method" (in en). Communications of the ACM 4 (4): 184–187. doi:10.1145/355578.366504. ISSN 0001-0782. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/355578.366504. 
  11. Huskamp, Jeffrey C. (1986). "A modular operating system for the cray-1". Software: Practice and Experience 16 (12): 1059–1076. doi:10.1002/spe.4380161202. ISSN 0038-0644. https://doi.org/10.1002/spe.4380161202. 
  12. NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) (January 1, 1968) (in english). NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 19680025435: Second conference on sonic boom research. http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_19680025435. 
  13. Haefeli, R. C.; Hayes, W. D.; Kulsrud, H. E. (April 1, 1969) (in en). Sonic Boom Propagation in a Stratified Atmosphere, with Computer Program. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19690013184. 
  14. Yumpu.com. "300 women – YWCA Princeton" (in en). https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/4447299/300-women-ywca-princeton. 
  15. "YWCA Princeton's Tribute to Women". July 2020. https://www.ywcaprinceton.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Former-Honorees-PDF-as-of-2020.pdf.