Robert Tomasulo

Robert Marco Tomasulo (October 31, 1934 – April 3, 2008) was a computer scientist, and the inventor of the Tomasulo algorithm. Tomasulo was the recipient of the 1997 Eckert–Mauchly Award "[f]or the ingenious Tomasulo algorithm, which enabled out-of-order execution processors to be implemented."[1]

Robert Tomasulo attended Regis High School in New York City. He graduated from Manhattan College and then earned an engineering degree from Syracuse University.[2] In 1956 he joined IBM research. After nearly a decade gaining broad experience in a variety of technical and leadership roles, he transitioned to mainframe development, including the IBM System/360 Model 91 and its successors. Following his 25-year career with IBM, Bob worked on an incubator project at Storage Technology Corporation to develop the first CMOS-based mainframe system; co-founded NetFrame, a mid-80s startup to develop one of the earliest microprocessor-based server systems; and worked as a consultant on processor architecture and microarchitecture for Amdahl Consulting.[3]

On January 30, 2008, Tomasulo spoke at the University of Michigan College of Engineering about his career and the history and development of out-of-order execution.