Frederic Calland Williams

Pioneer of the first stored-program digital computer and inventor of the Williams–Kilburn tube memory device, Williams transformed the foundations of modern computing. In 1946, he was appointed as head of the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Manchester. There, with Tom Kilburn, he pioneered the first stored-program digital computer. Williams is particularly well known for his invention of the Williams–Kilburn tube, an early memory device, and the Manchester Mark 1 computer.

Freddie Williams received numerous honours in his life. Most notably, these included professionally Fellow of the Royal Society (1950), the Faraday Medal of the I.E.E. (1972), and the Pioneer Award of the I.E.E.E. (1972), and nationally the O.B.E. (1945), the C.B.E. (1961), and a Knight Bachelor (1976).