Dennis Ritchie

UNIX creators Ken Thompson (Left) and Dennis Ritchie (Right)

Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie (b. September 9, 1941) is a US computer scientist notable for his influence on ALTRAN, B, BCPL, C, BCPL, Multics, and UNIX.

Born in Bronxville, New York; Ritchie graduated from Harvard with degrees in physics and applied mathematics. In 1967, he began working at the Bell Labs' Computing Sciences Research Center; he is currently the head of Lucent Technologies' System Software Research Department.

Dennis Ritchie is often referred to as "DMR" in various Usenet newsgroups (such as comp.lang.c); he is the "R" of the K&R.

Writings by Ritchie

• The C Programming Language (1978 with Brian Kernighan)
• Unix Programmer's Manual (1971)

• Dennis Ritchie's home page
• Unix.se DMR interview published February 7. 2003
• Ritchie and Thompson Receive National Medal of Technology from President Clinton
• The future according to Dennis Ritchie - LinuxWorld.com 12/4/00