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1968
Paul Allen and Bill Gates "got a big part of our start in computer science through the University of Washington when we were still students at Lakeside School," said Paul Allen in announcing his $14 million commitment to the UW Department of Computer Science & Engineering. "UW Computer Science & Engineering is an engine of opportunity, and we want to help make sure it's an even more cutting-edge resource for coming generations."
DEC PDP-10
SDS Sigma 5
Burroughs B5500
Control Data Corporation 6400

The Computer Center Corporation, a timesharing startup founded in the late 1960s by UW faculty and staff (including Computer Science & Engineering professor David Dekker and graduate student Dick Hamlet), made PDP-10 time available to Lakeside students by means of a teletype terminal.

Gates and Allen also utilized four computers on the UW campus -- an SDS Sigma 5 operated by Computer Science & Engineering, a DEC PDP-10 operated by the Medical School, and a Burroughs B5500 and a Control Data 6400 operated by the Academic Computer Center (now Computing & Communications).

During the 1980s, the University of Washington employed an exceedingly apt slogan in radio spots: "UW: You get something, whether you go there or not." Indeed! Research universities contribute to their regions in many ways -- some explicit, and some serendipitous.

The recent commitments of Allen, Gates, Microsoft Corporation, and dozens of other individuals and organizations to the UW Department of Computer Science & Engineering ensure that UW CSE will continue to lead and to serve long into the future.


Bill Gates and Paul Allen at UW President Dick McCormick's home, February 19, 2002


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