Dr. Richard W. Hamming is best known for the Hamming code, Hamming distance and the Hamming spectral window along with numerical methods. In 1986, the IEEE [Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers] established an award in his name for exceptional contributions to information sciences and systems. The award includes a gold medal and $10,000.
From 1945 to 1946 he worked on computing atomic bomb designs via simulations for the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, New Mexico. In 1946, Dr. Hamming joined Bell Telephone Laboratory where he ran analog as well as digital computer centers in the Math and Computing Research Department until July 1976. Hamming then then joined the faculty of the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey (CA), where he teaches in the Department of Computer Science. For an indepth view of Hamming's outlook on life and the little events that created the long lasting ones read ``Interview: Richard Hamming Interviewed by David Gilbert,'' IEEE COMPUTING FUTURES,
SPRING 1991, pp.10-17.
[This article first appeared in IEEE POTENTIALS, October 1993]