Harvey S. Gellman

Harvey S. Gellman (1924–2003) was born in Poland and emigrated to Canada when he was very young. After getting a Ph.D., he launched a successful career as a consultant in Toronto. He was remembered as being "one of Canada's computer pioneers and most distinguished consultants".

H. S. Gellman got his doctorate in Applied Mathematics at the University of Toronto in 1951. While working on his thesis, he worked at the first computer center in Canada at the University of Toronto, a Ferranti (one of 9 made according to the Computer History Museum), and did the programming. His Ph. D. work was on the origins of the Earth's magnetic field and his thesis was "Computation of the magnetic field produced by a moving liquid", with his supervisor Edward Bullard. The Bullard-Gellman Dynamo, presented in a pioneering paper in 1954, was the first convincing qualitative model for dynamo action in a fluid sphere.

Harvey reported to his coauthor, Alistair Davidson, that the Ferranti computer cost approximately $300,000. At that time, he was earning $3,000 as a graduate student.

He got his first consulting job in 1955 with Adalia Ltd. in association with Sir Robert Watson-Watt, the British radar pioneer. Adalia's initial work for TCA (Trans Canada Airlines) seems to have been as a working group for Adalia Ltd.[IEEE The Annals of the History of Computing Volume:16 Issue:2 Date:Summer 1994] In 1956, he formed his own company, H. S. Gellman & Co. Although KCS Data Control Ltd. of Toronto developed the system design for the Gemini (later renamed Reservec) system, but seems to have lost the bid for the later programming contract to H.S. Gellman and Company Ltd. of Toronto. H.S. Gellman & Company worked on the Reservec System for TCA until the early 60's. Another of his early consulting jobs was with Atomic Energy of Canada, where he wrote analytical programs for the scientists at Chalk River Laboratories. One of his early employees, W.K. Hastings, recalls him as a great mentor.

In 1964, H.S. Gellman & Co. Ltd. was bought by DCF Systems Limited to strengthen their analytical talent. DCF was a consortium founded by de Havilland Canada, CAE and Ferranti to bid on the installation of Bomarc missile bases in Canada in the mid early 1960s. Gellman then became vice-president and soon afterwards president of DCF. On Nov. 8, 1966, in association with Ronald C. Carroll (vice-president of DCF), Gellman purchased DCF from the de Havilland.

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