Author of "A Guide to Fortran Programming" (Wiley, 1961) and its successors — the standard textbooks on that language for over two decades — McCracken was one of computing's most prolific educators. The author of over two dozen textbooks on computer programming, his books have been translated into fourteen languages. He was a Professor of Computer Sciences at the City College of New York beginning in 1981.
He was born in 1930 in Montana, and graduated in 1951 from Central Washington University with degrees in mathematics and chemistry. McCracken worked seven years with the General Electric Company in computer applications and programmer training. After that, he worked at the New York University Atomic Energy Commission Computer Center, and was a graduate student at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. In 1959 he became a consultant and continued writing on computer subjects.
In 1970 McCracken earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Union Theological Seminary in New York. From 1976–78, he was vice president of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and from 1978–80 he was president of the ACM. In 1994 he was inducted as a Fellow of ACM.
In 1989 he received the Norbert Wiener Award for Social and Professional Responsibility from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, and was an honorary member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. McCracken died peacefully, shortly after his 81st birthday, on Saturday, July 30th, 2011.
