Richard P. (Dick) Case

Abstract: Richard Case had a long successful career at IBM and has continued his contributions to the computer field after retiring from IBM. In this interview Richard discussed his family background and growing up in Ohio along with his early computer experiences. Starting on the hardware side, he was able to contribute to the design of the 1410 computer and to the 7040 and 7044. While originally assigned to the engineering of the new S/360 product line, he was tapped by Fred Brooks to be his deputy in producing the OS/360 operating system. By far the largest such operating system effort at the time, the development team was able to overcome many technical and performance obstacles to release this program which became the standard for future mainframe computers. After Richard was responsible for the architecture of the S/370 he was assigned to head up the Future System Project, which was to be IBM’s next major computer system. However, the size and complexity of this project led to its demise (along with a resurgence of demand for the existing IBM product line). Richard then had a series of other assignments in IBM Research, on the US Justice Department Anti Trust suit against IBM, as Director of SPD Technical Operations, and other technical leadership roles. He became a spokesperson for IBM to various US and international agencies, industry forums and standards committees and was selected to serve on certain US Government Commissions. His last IBM assignment was as Corporate Director of Technical Strategy Development providing technical support to Lou Gerstner, the new CEO of IBM. Richard continues to be in demand as a consultant and advisor in the computer field.

Oral History of Richard Case

 Return to Index