Erna Schneider Hoover

Erna Schneider Hoover
Born
Erna Schneider

(1926-06-19) June 19, 1926 (age 98)
Irvington, New Jersey, U.S.[3]
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materWellesley B.A.,
Yale Ph.D.
Known forComputerized system
for phone traffic[2]
Spouse(s)Charles Wilson Hoover, Jr.
AwardsNational Inventors Hall of Fame, 2008[1]
Wellesley alumni
achievement award[2]
Scientific career
InstitutionsBell Labs
Thesis An Analysis of
Contrary-to-Fact
Conditional Sentences[2]  (1951)

Erna Schneider Hoover (born June 19, 1926) is an American mathematician notable for inventing a computerized telephone switching method which "revolutionized modern communication".[3][4] It prevented system overloads by monitoring call center traffic and prioritizing tasks[4] on phone switching systems to enable more robust service during peak calling times.[3] At Bell Laboratories where she worked for over 32 years,[5] Hoover was described as an important pioneer for women in the field of computer technology.[2]

  1. ^ National Inventors Hall of Fame Archived 2010-07-09 at the Wayback Machine website. Accessed March 18, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d "Erna Hoover -- Biography". World of Computer Science. 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
  3. ^ a b c "Hall of Fame -- induction info". National Inventors Hall of Fame. 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-04-28. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  4. ^ a b Amy Ellis Nutt (June 18, 2008). "Fame calls on 2 titans of telephony in NJ". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  5. ^ Calvin Sims (March 9, 1987). "BELL LABS: ADAPTING TO MONOPOLY'S END". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-05.