The emergence of computer science instructional units in American colleges and universities (1950--1975): A history

The purpose and scope of this dissertation is to investigate the origins and development of academic computer science units in American higher education and examine the intent and structure of their curricula. Specifically the study examines selected undergraduate and graduate curricula that developed from 1950 to 1975. This dissertation examines several of the earliest academic units formed and the issues surrounding their formation. This study examines some of the variety of courses and programs that existed among the early computer science programs. The actual titles of the units varied but they shared a common overreaching goal to study computers. The departments formed in various methods and some units were a subset of other departments. Faculties of these new units were often comprised of faculty members from various other disciplines. This dissertation is an exploration of the connections between a variety of diverse institutions and the new computer science discipline that formed from these early academic roots. While much has been written about the history of hardware and software development and the individual pioneers in the relatively new computer science discipline, the history of the academic units was documented primarily based on individual institutions. This study uses a wider lens to examine the patterns of these early academic units as they formed and became computer science units. The successes of these early pioneers resulted in a proliferation of academic computer programs in the following decades. The curricular debates continue as the number and purposes of these programs continue to expand. This dissertation seeks to provide useful information for future curricular decisions by examining the roots of the academic computer science units.