Bernard Galler

American mathematician and computer scientist at the University of Michigan, Galler was involved in the development of large-scale operating systems and computer languages, including the MAD programming language and the Michigan Terminal System operating system.

He attended the University of Chicago, where he earned a B.Sc. in mathematics (1947), followed by an M.Sc. from UCLA and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1955), advised by Paul Halmos and Marshall Stone. Galler joined the mathematics department at the University of Michigan (1955), where he taught the first programming course (1956) using an IBM 704. He helped to develop the computer language called the Michigan Algorithm Decoder (1959–) which came into use at several universities.

He formed the Communication Sciences department (1965), later renamed Computer Sciences (CS), which became the Computer and Communications (CCS) department (1984), and the Computer Science Department in the 1970s, from which he retired in 1994. His class developed the real-time course scheduling program called Computer Registration Involving Student Participation (CRISP), which allowed students to register for courses without waiting in long lines. The University used the CRISP application for over fifteen years.

From 1968 to 1970, Prof. Galler served as President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). In 1994 he was inducted as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery. Galler was the founding editor of the journal IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (1979–87) and also served as President of the Software Patent Institute (1992). For fifteen years, he served as an expert witness in numerous important legal cases around the country involving computer software issues. He was also a trustee and director of the Charles Babbage Foundation.

Dr. Galler was married to Enid Harris and played violin in several orchestras and chamber groups. He co-founded the Ypsilanti Youth Orchestra (2001) for children whose schools did not have string music education. Galler served as president of the Orchestra Board at his university, where he also participated in the Ann Arbor chapter of Rotary International. He died from pulmonary embolism.