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Birth
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -
Started Schooling at MIT
Started school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 16. Was a member of the Tech Model Railroad Club. -
Kotok-McCarthy Program
Developed the first computer chess program with his professor John McCarthy. This became the basis for his thesis. -
Student Staff Programmer at MIT's Research Laboratory for Electronics
Started as a Student Staff Programmer at the Research Lab for Electronics. During this time he worked on programs such as the Expensive Tape Recorder, T-Square, and Spacewar! -
Development of Expensive Tape Recorder
Worked with David Gross to develop the digital audio program. -
Development of T-Square
Program written for the PDP-1 by Peter Samson and Alan Kotok. The program was designed to move the cursor in the game Spacewar! that was under early developments. -
Development of Spacewar!
Worked with a number of other MIT Hackers to create the first ever video game, known as Spacewar! The game was specifically designed for the PDP-1 that was available in their lab. Kotok is credited as creating the first-ever control box with Robert Saunders. -
Received BSEE from MIT
Received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. -
Began work at Digital Equipment Corporation
Kotok's career at DEC lasted for 34 years. He served in various positions, including many senior engineering positions. Worked on the PDP-6, PDP-10, DECsystem-10 and DECsystem-20. -
Assistant Logic Designer at DEC
Served as an assistant logic designer on a team that developed the PDP-6. 1963-1964. -
Key Architect and Designer of PDP-10
While at DEC, he served as the Chief Architect for the PDP-10. This computer was the first computer that made time sharing a common feature. -
Received MSEE from MIT
Received his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. -
Taught Logic Design at the University of California, Berkeley
Taught Logic Design at the University of California, Berkeley during the 1975-1976 school year. -
Earned MBA from Clark University
Went back to school and earned a Master in Business Administration from Clark University. This served useful in future positions with DEC and the World Wide Web Consortium. -
VAX 8600 System Architect
System Architect for the VAX 8600, a minicomputer produced by DEC. -
Help found the World Wide Web Consortium
In 1994, Kotok traveled to Geneva with other employees from DEC to speak with Tim Berners-Lee. This led to the eventual founding of the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3). -
W3C Advisory Committee Representative for DEC
Served as a Word Wide Web Consortium Advisory Committee Representative for DEC from 1994-1996. -
Vice President of Marketing for GC Tech Inc.
Served as Vice President of Marketing for GC Tech Inc. from 1996 to 1997. -
Coordinated meeting at WWW6
At the 6th World Wide Web Conference (WWW6) in Santa Clara, California Kotok organized a meeting on the Selection of Payment Vehicle for Internet Purchases. -
Presented on Micropayment Systems
Presented on Micropayment Systems to the Electronic Payments Forum in La Jolla, California. -
Started as Associate Chairman of W3C
After retiring from DEC, Kotok took on the position of Associate Chairman of the World Wide Web Consortium. He was in charge of contractual relations with members. He remained in this position until his death. -
Death
Alan Kotok died of a heart attack while at his home in Cambridge, MA. He was 64 years old.
