On Sunday October 16th 2016 the Founder of CIPS and “Father of Computing in Canada” Calvin C. (Kelly) Gotlieb sadly passed away at the age of 95 and will be greatly missed. Kelly was an amazing individual who touched the lives of the IT community across Canada, and is an inspiration to all both professionally and personally.
This page is dedicated to pictures, interviews, articles, quotes, webpages, and memories shared by the CIPS Community to remember and honour Kelly’s amazing life and accomplishments.
To contribute to this page please send an email to info@cips.ca
Career Highlights
Professor Gotlieb dedicated much of his professional work to the promotion of information science and technology and the advancement of national and international cooperation in this field. He was also a recipient of the Order of Canada for his work in establishing CIPS as Canada’s association for IT professionals.
Selected Contributions to CIPS
- Founding Member of CIPS in September 1958
- Third President of CIPS
- Chairman of the National Awards Nominating Sub-Committee, 1988-89
- in 1988 CIPS established the C.C. Gotlieb Award which is presented annually to a Member who is widely recognized for outstanding contribution to CIPS through years of substantial efforts on behalf of the Society
Read More: http://www.cips.ca/founding
1st Photo: Taken at INFORMATICS 2008 – CIPS 50th anniversary dinner in Ottawa. Photo of Kelly and CIPS Fellows in attendance at the dinner. Front row from left to right: Stephen Ibaraki, FCIPS, I.S.P, ITCP, Faye West, Kelly Gotlieb Hon. FCIPS. Back row: Richard Thompson FCIPS, Jim Finch Hon. FCIPS, I.S.P. (ret.), and David Armstrong FCIPS.
2nd Photo: Convocation, Kelly Gotlieb, Honorary degree, University of Victoria Nov 10, 2011.
3rd Photo: Kelly Gotlieb, Honorary degree, University of Victoria, Nov 10,2011 photo courtesy Times Colonist
In Memoriam: The “Father of Computing in Canada’ Calvin C. Gotlieb via University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is mourning the loss of Professor Emeritus C.C. “Kelly” Gotlieb, BA, MA, CM, PhD, LLD, FRSC, who passed away on October 16 at age 95.
Gotlieb is widely regarded as the “father of computing in Canada” and was the inaugural director, now more commonly known as chair, of the Department of Computer Science when it was founded as a graduate unit in 1964.
“In addition to his technical knowledge, Kelly had exceptional understanding of, and experience in dealing with, many of the social issues involving computing that were occurring and would continue to be remain important,” says University Professor Allan Borodin, Gotlieb’s co-author of the 1973 forward-thinking book,Social Issues in Computing. Borodin and Gotlieb also introduced a course on the topic together.
“Kelly was a great mentor, godfather to my son, and inspiration to all who knew him personally and professionally.”
1st Photo: Professor Gotlieb in the 1950; founder of the U of T Computation Centre ( U of T computer science department archives).
2nd Photo: Gotlieb (standing) and M.A.R. Ghonarimy (seated) taught the first graduate course on computing titled, “The Logical Basis of Digital Computing Machines” (University of Toronto archives).
3rd Photo: Gotlieb with the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, 18th prime minister of Canada, when they were both recognized by University of Montreal with an honorary doctorate (courtesy of the l’Université de Montréal).
4th Photo: Past department chairs (left to right) Eugene Fiume, Wayne Enright, Allan Borodin, and Derek Corneil with Gotlieb (center) met at the U of T Faculty Club on April 4 to celebrate Gotlieb’s 95th birthday.
Stephen Ibaraki FCIPS, I.S.P., ITCP Interviews with Kelly Gotlieb
- Kelly talks about his Lecture at the University of Toronto, his 90th birthday celebrations and reflecting back
- Kelly talks about his remarkable family
- Kelly talks about his work as Co-Chair of the ACM Awards Committee
- Kelly talks about the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
- Kelly talks about his classified work
- Kelly talks about his work in Academia
- Kelly talks about his work with IFIP and CIPS
- Kelly talks about his work with the ACM
- Network Neutrality and related issues
- Skills Shortage and Blogs
- Evolution of Computers
- Privacy
CIPS Joins in Celebration for Founder Kelly Gotlieb’s 90th Birthday
On Monday March 28th 2011 CIPS representatives attended Kelly Gotlieb’s 90th birthday celebration ceremony at the University of Toronto. This included a distinguished lecture by Kelly himself, “Chiefly about Computing”, followed by a private dinner reception. It was a wonderful and emotional event, and attendees felt honoured to have been part of the celebration.
CIPS representatives included Mary Jean Kucerak (Executive Director), Trekker Armstrong, I.S.P., ITCP (CIPS CCITP Chair), and Stephen Ibaraki, FCIPS, I.S.P., ITCP (CIPS Board Chairman & President (2007/8, Advisor OEC 2008-present)). Trekker and Stephen were both invited to the head table and delivered remarkable speeches (as part of 4 keynotes speakers) in front of a full house at the Great Hall, in the Heart House building at U of T. The following is the speech that was delivered by Trekker.
Read More: http://www.cips.ca/node/1254
Honouring the Canadian Global Computing Pioneer and Icon, Kelly Gotlieb – By Stephen Ibaraki FCIPS, I.S.P., ITCP (Oct, 2011)
“I have a continuing series of interviews with Kelly—numbering over ten now. I am often asked, how did these interviews start? I sent a note to Kelly to see if he would consent to being interviewed. Kelly quickly replied demonstrating his inclusiveness, openness, and willingness to share.
In those interviews, I am asked which is the one, where I receive the most feedback. It’s the one about his family; there is high regard, respect, and recognition for Kelly but Kelly demonstrates this high regard, respect, and recognition for his family; this very much Illustrating Kelly’s passion, caring and humanity.”
Citation read on the occasion of the Granting of the degree of Honorary Doctor of Engineering to Calvin Gotlieb by the Senate of the University of Victoria – By Mary Sanseverino (Nov 10, 2011)
Mr. Chancellor, I have the privilege of speaking about the accomplishments of Calvin Carl “Kelly” Gotlieb: scholar and educator, community builder and mentor, and a great Canadian.
In the late 40’s and early 50’s, Kelly Gotlieb was a key pioneer in developing an entirely new discipline: computer science. Most of you graduating today will have taken at least one course in computer science and I know that some of you will walk from this stage with a full degree in it. This is the man who was there at the start of it all; whose career has spanned more than 65 years; and who continues to be a driving force in the advances of computer science and information technology today.
Submitted by Professor Sue Whitesides, Computer Science Department, University of Victoria
“Kelly generously shared his office at UofT with me during my sabbatical there in 1987-88. During that year, he spent many hours on the telephone generating support for the Turing Award.
By 1989, Kelly had reached his lofty goal: he had generated sufficient funding to make the ACM Turing Award a newsworthy one, like the Nobel Prize. The highest prize in computer science, the Turing Prize today stands at $1M(US).
Kelly staunchly supported professional societies like CIPS and ACM with active participation and leadership throughout his entire life. Beginning in 2007, he served for several years as a member of the selection committee for the ACM Computing Prize (previously known as the ACM-Infosys Foundation Award). This award recognizes early-to-mid career innovation, and, at $250,000, is the ACM’s 2nd highest award.
He always enjoyed attending the annual ACM awards banquet, which includes both the Turing and the Infosys awards.”
To contribute to this page please send an email to info@cips.ca