Jerome Svigals

One of the world's first digital programmers, Svigals worked on developing the first electronic computer as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1950.

Born in 1926 in the Bronx, New York, Svigals attended City College of New York. Starting with IBM in 1954, he became the company's first employee hired for marketing the professional computer. Svigals devised the strategy of selling computer support services and eventually ran IBM's global marketing system.

In the mid-1960s, he conducted initial research on a machine-readable storage medium and became project manager for magnetic stripe cards. Regarded as the "father of mag-stripe cards," Svigals brought the technology to the air transport, mass transit, and banking industries. He subsequently became the key figure in establishing national and global standards for magnetic stripe data storage.

He has authored 25 books on card technology and banking and has served as a leading consultant to the financial industry.