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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wang (王). Personal Names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Chinese family name is one of the hundreds or thousands of Family names that have been historically used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic Wang ( 王; Pinyin: Wáng is one of the most common and ancient Chinese family names It is ranked 8th in the Hundred Family Surnames, and

Dr. An Wang (Chinese: 王安; pinyin: Wáng Ān; February 7, 1920 – March 24, 1990) was a Chinese American computer engineer and inventor, and co-founder of computer company Wang Laboratories. Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use Events 457 - Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1074 - Battle of Montesarchio in which the Prince Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Events 1401 - Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus. 1603 - James VI of Scotland Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) Chinese Americans ( Chinese: 华裔美国人 are Americans of Chinese descent Wang Laboratories was a computer company founded in 1951 by Dr

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Early life and career

A native of Kunshan County in Suzhou Prefecture, he was born in Shanghai, China, and graduated from Jiaotong University with a degree in electrical engineering in 1940. Kunshan ( is a satellite city in the greater Suzhou region that is administratively at the county-level in southeast Suzhou ( ancient name 吳) is a City on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu Shanghai ( 上[[wikt 海|海]] is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest urban areas in the world with over 20 million China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Electrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of Engineering that deals with the study and application of He emigrated to the United States in June 1945 to attend Harvard University for graduate school, earning a PhD in applied physics in 1948. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the After graduation, he worked at Harvard with Dr Howard Aiken on the design of the Mark IV, Aiken's first fully electronic computer. Howard Hathaway Aiken ( March 8, 1900 – March 14 1973) was a pioneer in Computing, being the primary engineer behind IBM Wang co-invented the pulse transfer controlling device with Way-Dong Woo, a schoolmate from China who fell ill before their patent was issued. The new device implemented write-after-read which made magnetic core memory possible. Magnetic core memory, or ferrite-core memory, is an early form of Random access Computer memory. Harvard reduced its commitment to computer research in 1951, prompting Wang's departure.

Wang founded Wang Laboratories in June 1951 as a sole proprietorship. A sole proprietorship, or simply proprietorship ( Benjamen Clark The first years were lean and Wang raised $50,000 working capital by selling one third of the company to textile machinery manufacturer Warner & Swasey Company. Working capital, also known as net working capital, is a financial metric which represents operating liquidity available to a business The Warner & Swasey Company was an American manufacturer of high-quality Machine tools instruments and special machinery In 1955 when the core memory patent was issued, Wang sold it to IBM for $500,000 and incorporated Wang Laboratories with Dr Ge-Yao Chu, another school mate. International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology The company grew slowly and in 1964 sales reached $1,000,000. Wang began making desktop electronic calculators with digital displays, including a centralised calculator with remote terminals for group use. By 1970 the company had sales of $27 million and 1400 employees. They began manufacturing word processors in 1976 based on the Wang 2200, one of the first desktop computers with a large CRT display. Wang 's first Minicomputer which could perform data processing in a common computer language was the Wang 2200 which appeared in May 1973 The Wang VS system was a multiuser minicomputer supposedly based on the design of the System/370. Wang Laboratories was a computer company founded in 1951 by Dr The IBM System/370 (often S/370) was a model range of IBM mainframes announced on June 30, 1970

In addition to calculators and word processors, Wang's company diversified into minicomputers in the early 1970s. A minicomputer (colloquially mini) is a class of multi-user Computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum in between the largest Multi-user Wang Laboratories, which in 1989 employed over 30,000 people, was headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts and later Lowell, Massachusetts. Tewksbury (ˈtʊksbɛriː/ /ˈtʊksbriː is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. As of the 2000 census the city had a total population of 105167 When Wang looked to retire from actively running his company in 1986, he insisted upon handing over the corporate reins to his son Fred Wang. Hard times ensued for the company and the elder Wang was eventually forced to remove his son in 1989.

Later years

An Wang also founded the Wang Institute of Graduate Studies in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts which offered a graduate program in Software Engineering. The Wang Institute of Graduate Studies was an independent educational institution founded in 1979 by computer entrepreneur An Wang. Tyngsborough (also spelled Tyngsboro and rhymes with KINGS-burro is a town located in the northwest section of Middlesex County Massachusetts. He made substantial donations to this organization, including the proceeds of his autobiography, Lessons. However, enrollment remained low, and in 1987, after nearly a decade of operation, Dr. Wang decided to discontinue funding the institution and transferred ownership of the campus to Boston University. For similarly-named academic institutions see Education in Boston MA.

An Wang also made a substantial contribution for the restoration of a Boston landmark, which was then called the Metropolitan Theatre. The "Met" was renamed in 1983 as The Wang Theatre, and the Metropolitan Center became known as the Wang Center for the Performing Arts. Citi Performing Arts Center, formerly the Wang Center for the Performing Arts, is located in Boston Massachusetts, USA. Citi Performing Arts Center, formerly the Wang Center for the Performing Arts, is located in Boston Massachusetts, USA.

When An Wang died of cancer in 1990 he left behind an impressive technical and philanthropic legacy. Cancer (medical term Malignant Neoplasm) is a class of Diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1988. The National Inventors Hall of Fame is an organization that recognizes Inventors and invention everywhere promotes creativity and advances the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship The "Dr. An Wang Middle School" in Lowell, Massachusetts is named in his honor, as is the An Wang Professorship of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Harvard University, held by Prof. Roger W. Brockett. Roger Ware Brockett ( October 22, 1938 Seville Ohio) is an American Control theorist and the An Wang Professor of Computer Science

He and his second wife Loraine lived in Lincoln, Massachusetts where she still lives. Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Their three children are Fred, Courtney, who runs a Dallas-area regional ISP, OnLine Today, and Juliet, an EMT. An Internet service provider ( ISP, also called Internet access provider or IAP) is a company which primarily offers their customers access to the Internet The Emergency Medical Technician ( EMT) exists in many countries and is a health care provider trained to provide prehospital emergency medical care

See also

External links

Patents

Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar)
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