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bjbj{P{P NORTH CAMPUS # Donald Bitzer and Chalmers Sherwin In 1960, at the age of 26,
University of Illinois Electrical Engineering Assistant Professor Donald Bitzer, with Physics
professor Chalmers Sherwin, developed the Programmed Logic Automated Teaching Operation,
known as PLATO. PLATO was the world s first shared computer-based education system. It
included direct instruction, research, and global communication in several different
languages. It featured the first on-line community and first e-mail program. PLATO was stocked
with so many innovations it was soon used on five continents and at institutions across
the U-S. Bitzer, an Illinois alumnus, remained at his alma mater for his entire tenure, retiring
in 1989. On subsequent summers, Bitzer would visit the Construction Engineering Research
That s the thing about PLATO - it allows people to create, to use their own creativity, not
just take what is fed to them. Chalmers Sherwin Chalmers Sherwin was a noted physicist long
before he and Bitzer developed PLATO. Sherwin was recruited to Illinois in 1946. From 1954
through1955 he went on leave from the University to serve as Chief Scientist for the Air Force.
While there, he worked extensively on his specialty - radar research. In 1955 he started
a project called Early Warning Radar Systems . The project was completed between 1958 and
1959. It proved invaluable for U-S national defense. Among his many accomplishments, his
two biggest included development of the cathode ray tube - or CRT - and the first synthetic
aperture radar. Sherwin retired in 1960. He was one of the many recruits of Physics department
head F. Wheeler Loomis who built Illinois' reputation as a leading institution for physics
research. Sherwin's honors included the Presidential Certificate of Merit in 1947 and the Scientific
Award of the Air Force Association in 1956. h$(| urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags
Education UIUC Normal UIUC Microsoft Office Word University of Illinois Bitzer & Sherwin
Computer Based Education Title Microsoft Office Word Document MSWordDoc Word.Document.8