KraftDec 17, 2022
Robert McNees

Sister Mary Kenneth Keller was born #OTD in 1913. She worked with John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz on the design and implementation of Beginner’s All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code — BASIC — and was the first woman in the US to earn a PhD in Computer Science.

10 PRINT “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
20 GOTO 10

Dec 17, 2022 at 3:37pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadRobert McNeesDec 17, 2022
In fact, she wasn’t just the first woman to earn a PhD in Computer Science in the US - she was almost the first person, period. She and Irving Tang both received their degrees on June 7, 1965. But Tang’s degree was awarded earlier in the day.
Show threadRobert McNeesDec 17, 2022

Actually, there seems to be some uncertainty here!

Washington University in St. Louis, where Tang earned his PhD, says they awarded “one of the first doctorate degrees in Computer Science in the United States to Irving C. Tang.”

So maybe Sister Mary Kenneth Keller went first, or maybe they were more or less at the same time. I’ll update if I find something definitive, but since they were on the same day maybe you just say they were both first.

Show threadRobert McNeesDec 17, 2022
In honor of her birthday, spend some time goofing around on an Applesoft BASIC emulator:
https://www.calormen.com/jsbasic/
Applesoft BASIC in JavaScript

Show threadlike jam or bootlacesDec 17, 2022

@mcnees

she went on to have a long career, founding the CS department at Clarke, in the Mississippi River town of Dubuque in northeast Iowa. (Incidentally, GoT author George R.R. Martin paid the bills by teaching writing there for a few years.)

Show threadlike jam or bootlacesDec 17, 2022

@mcnees

Meanwhile, back in New Hampshire, Kemeny rose to the presidency at Dartmouth, in which he brokered the deal that would see it be among the remaining couple of Ivy League campuses to lift their all-male admissions policies.

Faculty wanted this, but did not want the campus to operate on a 12 month schedule. The board wanted to make use of the campus year round, but did not want to go co-ed.

Kemeny made it happen, but it was in some ways a nasty process.

Show threadlike jam or bootlacesDec 17, 2022

@mcnees

this seems pretty deeply into @histoftech territory

last time I went on about this stuff was both before the latest and biggest wave of Twitter to fediverse migration so maybe wasn't as obvious and direct a connection to make.

It was also on mastodon.technology which has now finally shut down completely

Show threadRiley S. FaelanDec 17, 2022
@mcnees: Because BASIC is the computer equivalent of a nun with a ruler?
Show threadAndy LowryDec 17, 2022
@riley
She whacked knuckles with a slide rule instead of the usual way.
Show threadhoratioramaDec 17, 2022
@mcnees This is a bit cooler:
10 PRINT “Happy birthday. ”;
20 GOTO 10
Show threadMeta Mike DominguezDec 17, 2022
@horatiorama @mcnees
RUN
Show threadhoratioramaDec 18, 2022
@illumined1 @mcnees
Show threadPete BleackleyDec 17, 2022
@mcnees Basic is a language for novices
Show threadRobert McNeesDec 17, 2022
@PeteBleackley Everything is a language for novices at some point.
Show threadBBC Micro Bot Dec 18, 2022
@PeteBleackley @mcnees every person is a novice at some point
Show threadBBC Micro Bot Dec 18, 2022
@mcnees @PeteBleackley the pun took me a second there… but the point still stands 😂
Show threadPete BleackleyDec 18, 2022
@bbcmicrobot @mcnees Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
Show threadBBC Micro Bot Dec 18, 2022
@PeteBleackley @mcnees indeed https://mastodon.me.uk/@bbcmicrobot/109385792409332016
BBC Micro Bot :mastodon: 🟢 (@[email protected])

Content warning: Musk acquires 10000 BASIC progs

mastodon.me.uk
Show threadrootlessDec 19, 2022
@bbcmicrobot @PeteBleackley @mcnees depends on their habits
Show threadArclightDec 17, 2022
@PeteBleackley @mcnees Well played, sir. Just don't make it a habit.
Show threadNorobiik @[email protected]Dec 18, 2022

@PeteBleackley @mcnees If you can't code well in a "novice" language like Basic then you probably can't code well in another language either. And Basic has come a long way from it's early beginnings - look up FreeBasic as an example.

Data structures & algorithm first, language is a far second.

Show threadDante MercurioDec 17, 2022
@mcnees Guess sixth grade me has her to partially thank as I wrote out my Atari 800 Basic programs in my notebook at school.
Show threadAndy LowryDec 17, 2022

@mcnees
Thanks, Sister! I still have a fondness for Basic, though haven't used it in quite a while. Maybe I should drag the TI99/4A out of the garage one day, it still worked the last time I plugged it in about five years ago. (Though I guess an emulator wouldn't be all that hard to find.)

I was unaware of the lady's involvement in this huge milestone, so thanks for mentioning it!

Show threadjan TanjoDec 17, 2022
@mcnees BASIC was my first programming language and set me on the path to becoming a software engineer. So glad to know about our pioneers!
Show threadKaren E. Lund 💙💛Dec 17, 2022

@mcnees She reminds me of my Great Aunt, who was born in the 1890s into a very Catholic French Canadian family.

Girls did NOT go to college. They got married and had (lots of) babies.

But not Emma. She was smart--her thing was languages; she spoke at least six--and wanted an education. So she became a nun and got educated in the service of the church. She took courses, including chemistry and physics, at McGill.

Show threadPaul DDec 17, 2022
Question - I cut & pasted a list of some accounts that I followed, into this post: link.https://mastodon.world/@P4UL/109525960509124350 However, the text doesn't link to those accounts. What did I do wrong? Thanks!
#question #help #mastodon #newbie #newbies #followfriday
Paul D (@[email protected])

I have followed the following for #FollowFriday (and alliteration): 
@smokelong 
@fabulistmagazine
@bcsmagazine 
@BoneParade 
@astrolabe 
@lunastation 
@thequietreader 
@Ellipsiszine 
@fantasticother 
@augurmag 
@talesfeathers
@fictivedream 
@fullhouselit 
@Metaphorosis
@apexmagazine
@janusliterary
@UncannyMagazine
@ReckoningMag
@StanzaCannon
@kaleidotrope 
@heartlines_spec
@fiyahlitmag 
@KhoreoMag Per the suggestion of @rchopgood.mastodon.world #LitMags on #mastodon

Mastodon
Show threadFlominatorDec 19, 2022
@P4UL
They will only turn into a link if they're on the same instance, else you will need @instance.something after their username
Show threadelliot 🇩🇪 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 🏳️‍🌈Dec 17, 2022
@mcnees am I the first person to say, "good lord!" in response to that? :)
Show threadArclightDec 17, 2022
@mcnees Aside: John Kemeny is responsible for much of my career. BASIC introduced me to computers and his work as chair of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island set the direction for nuclear safety and the sort of engineering analysis I do. I didn't put two and two together until your post, so thanks for that.
Show threadMark Nichols (LGBTQIA+ Ally)Dec 17, 2022
@mcnees BASIC is what started me on the path to becoming a programmer and now system administrator. Nice to learn a bit about its origins, even if it is decades after the fact.
Show threadPaulDDec 17, 2022
@mcnees first and last time I studied programming was BASIC.
Show threadThomas EdwardsDec 17, 2022
@mcnees Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kenneth_Keller
Mary Kenneth Keller - Wikipedia

Show threadgnarlygeekDec 17, 2022
@mcnees My first programming language on an HP "minicomputer" in an engineering lab at VaTech circa 1972.
Show threadJoJaSciPoDec 17, 2022

@mcnees

Amazing pointy top to her head!🤔

Show threadPeter Drake HAS MOVEDDec 17, 2022
@strangetruther @mcnees She was ... how to put this ... from France.
Show threadJoJaSciPoDec 17, 2022

@peterdrake @mcnees

🤭 😁

Show threadLRDec 17, 2022
@mcnees BAPSIC
Show threadBrandon WhitteyDec 17, 2022

@mcnees

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
[…etc…]

Show threadCornelius TraasDec 17, 2022
@mcnees The first computer language I learned. And the only one I still remember.
Show threadJohn S. Erickson 🙏Dec 17, 2022
@mcnees Mary Kenneth Keller was actually the first _person_ to earn a CS PhD in the US; the second person got his later that day!
Show threadDonDec 17, 2022
@mcnees Thanks for sharing this important historical information. I would have never realized a Catholic sister played such an important role.
Show threadJoe ChottDec 17, 2022

@mcnees Little background for anyone interested to learn more about her.

https://www.cs.wisc.edu/2019/03/18/2759/

Sister Mary Kenneth Keller (PhD, 1965): The first PhD in computer science in the US

By Maeve Ryan It’s UW-Madison Commencement Day, 1965. Badgers stand proud in their graduation garb, eager to receive diplomas. Among them, one woman stands out in her gown and nun’s habit: Sister Mary Kenneth Keller, …

Computer Sciences
Show thread:labrys-xf-p: HighPriestessTerra :labrys-xf-b: Dec 17, 2022
@mcnees run
Show threadSallyDec 17, 2022
@mcnees Never knew that, very cool!
Show threadDieuDec 17, 2022
@mcnees and according to Wikipedia, she was among the first two students to receive such a degree at all in the US.
Show thread@pineywoozle ‘s #3WordNoteDec 18, 2022
@mcnees I love elevating the roll women have played in science. #computerScience #WomenInStem
Show threadrootnodeDec 18, 2022
@mcnees I saw her photograph posted on the University of Wisconsin-Madison's CS department 'Wall of fame'. She did her BS and MS in Madison I believe
Show threaddonDec 18, 2022
@mcnees can I get a GOSUB for old times’ sake?
Show threadAlan BoyleDec 18, 2022
@mcnees I was fortunate enough to meet Sister Mary Kenneth at an open house at Clarke College when I was just a kid!
Show threadDarren IrwinDec 18, 2022
@mcnees Wow, BASIC was my first programming language. Good to know she contributed to it.
Show threadNathan SchneiderDec 18, 2022
@mcnees this made my Sunday
Show threadEugene WallingfordDec 19, 2022
@mcnees @marick Sr. Mary Kenneth founded and chaired the CS department at Clarke College (now University).
http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2014-05.html#e2014-05-25T12_03_29.htm
Knowing and Doing: May 2014 Archives

Show threadPaul DDec 19, 2022
@katrinakatrinka @Flominator thanks! BTW did I somehow manage to post this question on @mcnees thread? If so, apologies.