18 Facts About Robert Dewar

Robert Berriedale Keith Dewar was an American computer scientist and educator.

Robert Dewar helped to develop programming languages and compilers and was an outspoken advocate of freely licensed open-source software.

Robert Dewar was a cofounder, CEO, and president of the AdaCore software company.

Robert Dewar was an enthusiastic amateur performer and musician, especially with the Village Light Opera Group in New York City.

Robert Dewar began to work with computers during graduate school.

Robert Dewar was first Assistant Professor of Information Science and later Associate Professor of Computer Science at the Illinois Institute of Technology from 1968 to 1975, before becoming Research Associate Professor of Computer Science at New York University in 1975, where he was Full Professor of Computer Science from 1976 to 2005, and becoming chair of the department.

Robert Dewar was involved with developing international standards in programming and informatics, as a member of the International Federation for Information Processing IFIP Working Group 2.1 on Algorithmic Languages and Calculi, which specified, maintains, and supports the languages ALGOL 60 and ALGOL 68.

Robert Dewar was involved in the design of ALGOL 68, and was WG 2.1 chairperson from 1978 to 1983.

Robert Dewar was associate director of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences from 1994 to 1997.

Robert Dewar was an outspoken advocate of freely licensed open-source software and an expert in copyright and patent law for software.

Robert Dewar was in demand as a speaker at conferences and expert witness in legal actions.

Robert Dewar became involved with the language Ada from its early days as a Distinguished Reviewer of the Ada 1983 design proposed by Jean Ichbiah that was selected by the United States Department of Defense.

Robert Dewar participated in the SETL project at NYU, and co-authored the handbook Programming With Sets: An Introduction to SETL.

Robert Dewar influenced the design of the language ABC, in particular its SETL-style high-level data types, such as associative arrays.

Robert Dewar played the bassoon, recorder, and other musical instruments and enjoyed singing.

Robert Dewar was an enthusiastic and valued member and benefactor of the Village Light Opera Group for 35 years, serving them in many capacities, from producer and president to music director, and on stage from Harem Guard to the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado.

Robert Dewar was a member of the North American Heckelphone Society and performed with other groups until only months before his death.

Robert Dewar died of cancer at age 70 at his home in Bennington, Vermont.