Ward Christensen

Ward Christensen, born in West Bend, Wisconsin, was the founder of the CBBS bulletin board, the first bulletin board system (BBS) ever brought online. He started development during a blizzard in Chicago, Illinois, and officially established CBBS four weeks later, on February 16, 1978. [Rey Barry, [http://www.freewarehof.org/ward.html "The Origin of Computer Bulletin Boards"] .] [Rupert Goodwins, [http://resources.zdnet.co.uk/articles/comment/0,1000002985,2130537,00.htm "Online communities turn twenty-five"] .] [Smart Computing Encyclopedia: [http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/dictionary/detail.asp?guid=&searchtype=&DicID=19535&RefType=Encyclopedia Ward Christensen] .]

Christensen was noted for building software tools for his needs. He wrote a cassette-based operating system before floppies and hard disks were common. When he lost track of the source code for some programs he wrote ReSource, an iterative disassembler for the 8080, to help him regenerate the source code. When he needed to send files to Randy Suess he wrote XMODEM.

Christensen received two 1992 Dvorak Awards for Excellence in Telecommunications, one with Randy Seuss for developing the first BBS, and a lifetime achievement award "for outstanding contributions to PC telecommunications." [ [http://www.citivu.com/dvorak/index.html#1992 Dvorak Awards for Excellence in Telecommunications] ] In 1993 he received the Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. [ [http://w2.eff.org/Misc/EFF/Pioneer_Awards/2nd_pioneer_awards.announce Second Annual EFF Pioneer Awards] ] He also was an initial inductee into the Shareware Hall of Fame in 1997. [ [http://www.siavoting.com/halloffame.php Shareware Hall Of Fame] .]

Christensen has been working for IBM as a technical sales specialist since 1968. [ [http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/software/AAA/AAA/CBBS/memories.txt "re: R/1ST BBS QUESTIONS" (Msg 46394)] from Ward Christensen to Steve Culver, July 31, 1993.] [ [http://wireless.ibm.com/whois/reply.xml?ln=Christensen&fn=Ward&cc=us&lc=en IBM Employee Directory: Ward Christensen] ]

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