Look Who it Was Random video

Oral History of Boris Babayan (excerpt)

4,178 views · Published 17 February 2016 · 18:58 · Indexed 25 October 2026

Channel: Computer History Museum · 2016 · Science & Technology

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This excerpt from Boris Babayan's CHM oral history appears in the @CHM blog post: http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/the-elbrus-2-a-soviet-era-high-performance-computer/. The full transcript of the oral history is available here: http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102746429. 

Boris Babayan was born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1933. He finished 10-year secondary school in Baku, then moved to Moscow to attend Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He graduated in 1957. He believes himself to be the first student of computer science in Russia. His current position is as an Intel Fellow, Dir. Of Architecture for the Software and Solutions group, and Microprocessor Technology Chair at Intel. He is the winner of USSR State Prize and the Lenin Prize. These prizes were awarded for his work in the development and implementation of complex equipment for design automation and for multiprocessor computer systems [Elbrus 2]. This oral history covers the early development of computers and computer science within the Soviet Union. Later discussions explain the transition to a market-based economy and its effect on computer science research in Russia. 

Funding for his team’s research stopped in 1991, and he was forced to look elsewhere for funds. There had been previous high level contacts with Sun Microsystems and they established a SPARC Technology Center in Moscow. He and his team subsequently became employees of Intel in 2004.

* Note:  Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102746429

Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

Catalog Number: 102746417

Lot Number: X6507.2012

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