Oral History Interview with Jim Gray

Abstract

Gray discusses his childhood in Rome and education at the University of California, Berkeley. He explains the influence of Sputnik, Norbert Wiener’s view of cybernetics and society, the social impact of computing, and the artificial intelligence papers of Newell and Simon in the shaping of his career. Gray describes his co-op position at General Dynamics, as well as positions with Bell Labs (Murray Hill) and IBM Research in Yorktown Heights and San Jose. Gray also describes his evaluations of computer models stimulated by the system dynamics approach pioneered by Jay Forrester, his brief role as a UNESCO technical expert in Romania, and his introduction to relational database design. The interview includes comments on computer privacy and research laboratory culture at International Business Machines, Tandem Computers, and Microsoft.