Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], John A. N. Lee Papers, 1973-1990, Ms1973-005, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The John A. N. Lee Papers were donated to Special Collections in 1973 and 1982; the Annals of the History of Computing editorial files were donated in 1992.

Processing Information

The John A. N. Lee Papers are unprocessed. The guide is a preliminary inventory, created in 2005.

Biographical Note

John A. N. Lee, a professor of computer science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, was born in Coventry, England. After earning his doctoral degree at the University of Nottingham, Lee worked as a civil engineer with Freeman, Fox & Partners, where he served on teams which designed the Medway Bridge near London, the Firth of Forth Road Bridge, and Australia's Sydney Opera House. In 1959, Lee joined the faculty of Queens University (Kingston, Ontario), where he initiated computer classes and a computer center. Lee moved in 1964 to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he established a computer science program and served as its first department head. During this time, he authored The Anatomy of a Compiler (1967) and Computer Semantics (1971). In 1973, the National Bureau of Standards contracted with Lee to form a "nucleus standard for the BASIC programming language."

Lee joined the faculty of Virginia Tech in 1974. Here, he assisted in the development of a graduate program and extended the undergraduate program. He served as chairman of the undergraduate program for many years and developed several new courses.

The recipient of several distinguished awards, Lee has made significant contributions to the development of computer language standards, the history of computing, and professional development. His interest in history led Lee to organize the 1982 25th anniversary commemoration of FORTRAN programming. Among his many other activities, he served as editor and editor-in-chief of the Annals of the History of Computing from 1987 to 1995.

Scope and Content

This collection contains the papers of John A. N. Lee, civil engineer, professor of computer science, author and editor. The collection is essentially comprised of two sets of materials:

Boxes 1-3 contain materials relating to Lee's involvement with the National Bureau of Standards in establishing standardization of the BASIC computer programming language. The files include the project contract, correspondence, surveys, meetings reports, printed materials, and the final report resulting from Lee's work. (Also included in Box 1 is some background material for a 1973 lecture by Grace Hopper.)

Boxes 4-20 contain the editorial files of the Annals of the History of Computing , from 1977 to 1990. The files contain such material as correspondence, drafts, rejected manuscripts, background material and office records.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by subject.

Separated Material

Several published works were transferred out of the collection in 2004. A list of these works is available in the collection's administrative folder.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Faculty and staff
• Science and Technology
• University History
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1970-)

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the John A. N. Lee Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).