A pioneer in the history of computing who is — unusually — a computer scientist himself, Williams has published books and articles, taught, curated museum exhibits, and promoted professional activity in the field.
Michael R. Williams received a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Calgary in 1964 and obtained a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Glasgow in 1968. In 1969 he joined the University of Calgary, first in the Department of Mathematics, then as a Professor of Computer Science. It was while working at Glasgow that Williams acquired an interest in the history of computing, something which developed over the years into his main research and teaching interest.
He participated in the publishing of 11 books, 92 articles, 58 technical reviews, and 72 invited lectures, and has been involved in the creation of 10 different radio, television, and museum productions. During his career Williams has had the opportunity to work for extended periods at several different universities, and at the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution), and as Head Curator at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.
Besides his work as Editor-in-Chief for the journal IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, he worked closely with the IEEE History Committee, serving as its Chairman in 1994 and 1995. Williams has served as President of the IEEE Computer Society in 2007 and has been a member of many different committees of the IEEE, as well as a member of editorial boards concerned with publishing material in the area of the history of computing.
