Gore to celebrate ENIAC

Vice President Al Gore will serve as honorary chairperson of the University's celebration of ENIAC's 50th Anniversary in 1996, University President Judith Rodin confirmed yesterday. "He has agreed to come to campus and come to Philadelphia at least once and maybe more in 1996," she said, adding that the University is currently working with Gore's office to determine the extent of his involvement in various celebration events. ENIAC -- the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer -- was the world's first computer. It was created at the University's Moore School of Electrical Engineering in 1946. School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Gregory Farrington said earlier this week that the ENIAC celebration is "a logical kind of topic" for the vice president, who has shown a great deal of interest in the information superhighway since taking office. "I've called [the birth of] ENIAC the second American revolution," Farrington said. "The reason I've called it that is that I feel and many other people feel that information technology will prove to be some of the most liberating forces in our society." Rodin, James Unruh, Unisys chairman and chief executive officer and Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell are among the dignitaries serving on the ENIAC 50th Celebration Committee, which has already designated 1996 the "Year of Computing." The ENIAC 50th Celebration will kick off February 14, 1996, with a dinner recognizing leaders and innovators in the computing and information technology fields. Other events that will be held during the "Year of Computing" include the opening of a $7 million, permanent exhibit at the Franklin Institute entitled "Inside Information" and the installation of a city-wide network of interactive visitor information kiosks. In addition, the University will revive the Moore School's summer session for 1996. It was during the same summer session in 1946 that scientists from around the world gathered on campus and conducted research that started the information age. "Technological change is impacting virtually every aspect of life around the globe," Rodin said in a statement. "The celebration will provide opportunities for academics, students, business leaders and Philadelphia visitors to stimulate new ideas about how computers can and should change our lives in the 21st century," she added. English Department Undergraduate Chairperson Alan Filreis said he thinks Gore's participation in the ENIAC celebration is a "great" thing for the University. "I think Gore's involvement will stress that it's not simply an engineering celebration," Filreis said. "[That] a prominent political figure comes to Penn for such a celebration can only underscore that we're dealing with something that's across the board, interdisciplinary." He added that the importance of the computer to many fields outside of engineering -- including public relations and education -- increases the relevance of the ENIAC celebration. "Gore's coming can only help to strengthen the notion that every citizen ought to have access to this new amazing means of communicating," Filreis said.

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