Editing UNIVAC (section)

==History and structure==
[[File:UNIVAC Sperry Rand badge.jpg|thumb|right|UNIVAC Sperry Rand label]]

[[J. Presper Eckert]] and [[John Mauchly]] built the [[ENIAC]] (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]'s [[Moore School of Electrical Engineering]] between 1943 and 1946. A 1946 patent rights dispute with the university led Eckert and Mauchly to depart the Moore School to form the Electronic Control Company, later renamed [[Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation]] (EMCC), based in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].  That company first built a computer called [[BINAC]] (BINary Automatic Computer) for [[Northrop Corporation|Northrop Aviation]] (which was little used, or perhaps not at all).  Afterwards, the development of UNIVAC began in April 1946.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-the-univac-computer-1992590 |date=March 5, 2019 |title=The History of the UNIVAC Computer |first=Mary |last=Bellis |work=[[ThoughtCo]] |access-date=November 11, 2024}}</ref> UNIVAC was first intended for the [[Bureau of the Census]], which paid for much of the development, and then was put in production.

With the death of EMCC's chairman and chief financial backer [[Henry L. Straus]] in a plane crash on October 25, 1949, EMCC was sold to typewriter, office machine, electric razor, and gun maker Remington Rand on February 15, 1950. Eckert and Mauchly now reported to [[Leslie Groves]]{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}, the retired army general who had previously managed building [[The Pentagon]] and led the [[Manhattan Project]].

The most famous UNIVAC product was the [[UNIVAC I]] [[mainframe computer]] of 1951, which became known for predicting the outcome of the U.S. presidential election the following year: this incident is noteworthy because the computer correctly predicted an Eisenhower landslide over [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]], whereas the final Gallup poll had Eisenhower winning the popular vote 51–49 in a close contest.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brinkley |first=Alan |title=American History: A Survey |edition=12th}}</ref>

The prediction led [[CBS]]'s news boss in New York, [[Siegfried Mickelson]], to believe the computer was in error, and he refused to allow the prediction to be read. Instead, the crew showed some staged theatrics that suggested the computer was not responsive, and announced it was predicting 8–7 odds for an Eisenhower win (the actual prediction was 100–1 in his favour).

When the predictions proved true{{Mdash}}Eisenhower defeated Stevenson in a landslide, with UNIVAC coming within 3.5% of his popular vote total and four votes of his Electoral College total{{Mdash}}[[Charles Collingwood (journalist)|Charles Collingwood]], the on-air announcer, announced that they had failed to believe the earlier prediction.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Randy |last=Alfred |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/11/1104cbs-tv-univac-election/ |title=Nov. 4, 1952: Univac Gets Election Right, But CBS Balks |magazine=Wired}}</ref>

The [[United States Army]] requested a UNIVAC computer from Congress in 1951. Colonel Wade Heavey explained to the Senate subcommittee that the national mobilization planning involved multiple industries and agencies: "This is a tremendous calculating process...there are equations that can not be solved by hand or by electrically operated computing machines because they involve millions of relationships that would take a lifetime to figure out." Heavey told the subcommittee it was needed to help with mobilization and other issues similar to the [[invasion of Normandy]] that were based on the relationships of various groups.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Army Asks Congress for Electronic Calculator| work=[[Corpus Christi Times]] |date=September 27, 1951 |access-date = 2018-07-01| url = https://newspaperarchive.com/anonymous-military-clipping-sep-27-1951-735803/ |via=[[NewspaperARCHIVE]]}}</ref>

The UNIVAC was manufactured at Remington Rand's former Eckert-Mauchly Division plant on W Allegheny Avenue in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="elecPR">{{cite web |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Electronics/50s/Electronics-1956-01.pdf |title=The Sperry Rand Corporation Announces the Formation of Remington Rand Univac |date=January 1956 |website=World Radio History |publisher=ELECTRONICS Magazine |pages=47–49 |access-date=2024-02-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131151119/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Electronics/50s/Electronics-1956-01.pdf |archive-date=2023-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/magazines/Computers_And_Automation/195606.pdf |title=The Computer Directory 1956 |date=June 1956 |website=Bitsavers |publisher=Computers and Automation |page=21 |access-date=2024-02-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114220114/http://www.bitsavers.org/magazines/Computers_And_Automation/195606.pdf |archive-date=2022-11-14}}</ref> Remington Rand also had an engineering research lab in [[Norwalk, Connecticut]], and later bought [[Engineering Research Associates]] (ERA) in [[St. Paul, Minnesota]].<ref name="elecPR" /> In 1953 or 1954 Remington Rand merged their Norwalk tabulating machine division, the ERA "scientific" computer division, and the UNIVAC "business" computer division into a single division under the UNIVAC name. This severely annoyed those who had been with ERA and with the Norwalk laboratory.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In 1955 Remington Rand merged with [[Sperry Corporation]] to become Sperry Rand. General [[Douglas MacArthur]], then the chairman of the Board of Directors of Remington Rand, was chosen to continue in that role in the new company.<ref name="spanmag">{{cite magazine |last=Lewis |first=Arthur M. |date=November 1977 |title=From Brewerytown to Sperry Rand |url=https://spanmag.com/?document=span-november-1977 |url-status=live |magazine=SPAN |publisher=U.S. Embassy New Delhi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216040347/https://spanmag.com/?document=span-november-1977 |archive-date=2024-02-16 |access-date=2024-02-16}}</ref> [[Harry Franklin Vickers]], then the President of Sperry Corporation, continued as president and CEO of Sperry Rand.<ref name="spanmag"/> The UNIVAC division of Remington Rand was renamed the Remington Rand Univac division of Sperry Rand.<ref name="elecPR" /> [[William_Norris_(CEO)|William Norris]] was put in charge as Vice-President and General Manager<ref>{{cite book |last1=Worthy |first1=James C. |title=William C. Norris : portrait of a maverick |date=1987 |publisher=Ballinger Pub. Co. |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-88730-087-5 |page=28 |url=https://archive.org/details/williamcnorrispo00wort_0/page/28/ |access-date=23 May 2024}}</ref> reporting to the President of the Remington Rand Division (of Sperry Rand).<ref name="Mgmt_Difficulties">{{cite book |last1=Norberg |first1=Arthur Lawrence |title=Computers and Commerce: A Study of Technology and Management at Eckert-Mauchly Computer Company, Engineering Research Associates, and Remington Rand, 1946-1957 |date=2005 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-14090-4 |pages=251–266 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-f7NIGeIU2EC |access-date=23 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

The following is a list of the General Managers/Presidents of the Division. There was a some degree of internal organisation turmoil from the period of the creation of Sperry Rand in 1955 right into the early 1960s. This culminated in the resignation of William Norris in 1957<ref name="Mgmt_Difficulties" /> and would continue until the early 1960s with the decentralisation of the former Remington Group and the promotion of UNIVAC to a full division of Sperry Rand. 

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! #
! Name
! Years in office
! Title
|-
! 1
| align=left | [[William_Norris_(CEO)|William Norris]]
| nowrap | 1955-1957<ref>{{cite news |title=Heads New Univac Division |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/10/18/archives/heads-new-univac-division.html |access-date=19 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=18 October 1955}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Obituaries: William C. Norris, founder of Control Data; Yen Do, Vietnamese publisher - Americas - International Herald Tribune |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/world/americas/23iht-obits.2571428.html |access-date=19 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=23 August 2006}}</ref>
| Vice-President & General Manager UNIVAC Division
|-
! 2
| align=left | [[Thornton_Carle_Fry|Thornton C. Fry]]
| nowrap | 1957-1959<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lukoff |first1=Herman |title=From dits to bits : a personal history of the electronic computer |date=1979 |location=Portland, Oregon |publisher=Robotics Press |isbn=978-0-89661-002-6 |page=163 |url=https://archive.org/details/fromditstobitspe0000luko}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Norberg |first1=Arthur L. |title=Computers and commerce: a study of technology and management at Eckert-Mauchly Computer Company, Engineering Research Associates, and Remington Rand, 1946-1957 |date=2005 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Mass |isbn=9780262140904 |page=273 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-f7NIGeIU2EC}}</ref>
| Vice-President & General Manager UNIVAC Division
|-
! 3
| align=left | Jay W. Schnackel
| nowrap | 1959-1962<ref>{{cite book |last1=Operations |first1=United States Congress Senate Committee on Government |title=Committee Prints |date=1960 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SMl3j012OgUC&pg=RA1-PA263 |access-date=19 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
| Vice-President & General Manager UNIVAC Division
|-
! 4
| align=left | Dr. Louis T. Rader
| nowrap | 1962-1964<ref>{{cite news |title=Slump in Sperry Rand's Stock Stirs Questions on Wall Street |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/06/13/archives/slump-in-sperry-rands-stock-stirs-questions-on-wall-street.html |access-date=19 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=13 June 1964}}</ref>
| President of the UNIVAC Division
|-
! 5
| align=left | J. Frank Forster
| nowrap | 1964-1966<ref>{{cite news |title=J. Frank Forster, 64, Is Dead; Was Chairman of Sperry Rand |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/03/archives/j-frank-forster-64-ls-dead-was-chairman-of-sperry-rand.html |access-date=19 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=3 July 1972}}</ref>
| President of the UNIVAC Division
|-
! 6
| align=left | Robert E. McDonald
| nowrap | 1966-1971<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=William D. |title=McDonald Appointed President Of Sperry Rand Univac Division |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/02/04/archives/mcdonald-appointed-president-of-sperry-rand-univac-division.html |access-date=19 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=4 February 1966}}</ref>
| President of the UNIVAC Division
|-
! 7
| align=left | Gerald G. Probst
| nowrap | 1971–1978<ref>{{cite news |title=Executive Changes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/10/archives/executive-changes.html |access-date=19 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=10 August 1971}}</ref>
| President of the UNIVAC Division
|-
! 8
| align=left | Richard l. Gehring
| nowrap | 1978-1981<ref>{{cite news |title=Computerworld |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qrjca3MN6nIC&pg=PT83 |access-date=19 May 2024 |publisher=IDG Enterprise |date=29 May 1978 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=BUSINESS PEOPLE |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/01/archives/business-people-sperry-appoints-six-to-new-chairman-office.html |access-date=19 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=1 August 1979}}</ref>
| President of the UNIVAC Division
|-
! 9
| align=left | Joseph J. Kroger
| nowrap | 1981-1985<ref name="NYT-Kroger" />
| President of the UNIVAC / Sperry Computer Systems Division.
|}


In the 1960s, UNIVAC was one of the eight major American computer companies in an industry then referred to as "[[IBM]] and the seven dwarfs"&nbsp;– a play on [[Snow White]] and the seven dwarfs, with IBM, by far the largest, being cast as Snow White and the other seven as being dwarfs: [[Burroughs Corporation|Burroughs]], Univac, [[NCR Voyix|NCR]], [[Control Data Corporation|CDC]], [[General Electric|GE]], [[RCA]] and [[Honeywell]].<ref>
{{Cite web| url=http://www.dvorak.org/blog/ibm-and-the-seven-dwarfs-dwarf-one-burroughs/ | title=IBM and the Seven Dwarfs – Dwarf One: Burroughs|
publisher=Dvorak Uncensored |last=Dvorak |first=John C.|date=2006-11-25 |access-date=2010-07-20 |author-link=John C. Dvorak}}</ref> In the 1970s, after GE sold its computer business to Honeywell and RCA sold its to Univac, the analogy to the seven dwarfs became less apt and the remaining small firms became known as the "[[BUNCH]]" ('''B'''urroughs, '''U'''nivac, '''N'''CR, '''C'''ontrol Data, and '''H'''oneywell).

In 1977, Sperry Rand purchased [[Varian Data Machines]] so as to enter the [[minicomputer]] market. Varian would be renamed as the Sperry UNIVAC Minicomputer Operation, operating as part of the Sperry UNIVAC division.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sperry Univac V77 Family Communications Capabilities |url=http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/datapro/communications_processors/C13-877_Sperry_V77.pdf |website=BitSavers.org |publisher=DATAPRO RESEARCH CORPORATION |access-date=28 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Sperry Plans to Buy Varian Data Machines |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/24/archives/sperry-plans-to-buy-varian-data-machines.html |access-date=28 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=24 May 1977}}</ref> Sperry UNIVAC would continue to market the V77 but never made a significant dent in the minicomputer market.

To assist "corporate identity" the name was changed to Sperry Univac, along with Sperry Remington, [[New Holland Agriculture|Sperry New Holland]], etc. In 1978, Sperry Rand, a conglomerate of various divisions (computers, typewriters, office furniture, hay balers, manure spreaders, gyroscopes, avionics, radar, electric razors), decided to concentrate solely on its computing interests and all of the unrelated divisions were sold. The company dropped the ''Rand'' from its title and reverted to Sperry Corporation. In 1981/82 the distinct Sperry UNIVAC branding was dropped and the division was renamed as the Sperry Computer Systems Division.<ref name="NYT-Kroger">{{cite news |last1=Purdum |first1=Todd S. |title=Sperry's strategist; A new chief pushes to keep his company independent |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/27/business/sperry-s-strategist-a-new-chief-pushes-to-keep-his-company-independent.html |access-date=12 May 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=27 October 1985}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=John A. N. |last2=Lee |first2=J. A. N. |title=International Biographical Dictionary of Computer Pioneers |date=1995 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-884964-47-3 |page=274 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocx4Jc12mkgC&pg=PA274 |language=en}}</ref> In 1986, Sperry Corporation merged with [[Burroughs Corporation]] to become [[Unisys]].

After the 1986 merger of Burroughs and Sperry, Unisys evolved from a computer manufacturer to a computer services and [[outsourcing]] firm, competing at that time in the same marketplace as [[IBM]], [[Electronic Data Systems]] (EDS), and [[Computer Sciences Corporation]].

{{as of|2021}}, Unisys continues to design and manufacture enterprise class computers with the ClearPath server lines.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unisys.com/aboutus/company-history|title=Unisys History|date=9 July 2021}}</ref>