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Kathryn Strutynski
Kathryn Strutynski
Born	5 February 1931; Nephi, Utah, US
Died	9 April 2010 (aged 79); Calgary, Canada
Resting place	Nephi, Utah, USA
Alma mater	Brigham Young University,; Naval Postgraduate School
Spouse	Alfred Waldemar Strutynski
Children	Karen Strutynski née Strutynski

Kathryn Betty Strutynski (née Latimer) (5 February 1931 – 9 April 2010) was a mathematician and computer scientist, and attended University at Brigham Young University and the Naval Postgraduate School. Besides jobs at Pan Am Airways and Bechtel Corporation, she worked at Digital Research, where she contributed to the development of CP/M, the first mainstream operating system for microcomputers.

Early life and education

Kathryn Betty Latimer was born on 5 February 1931^[2] in Nephi, Utah, USA. Her father was Andrew Hans Latimer and her mother Henrietta Norton.^[1]^[3]

Latimer obtained an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Brigham Young University in 1953,^[4] and taught high school mathematics in Utah for two years.

Career

In the early 1950s, she moved to San Francisco, where she worked at Pan Am Airways doing research. Kathy eventually became responsible for all the charter bids at the Western Division of Pan Am. When Pan Am consolidated its offices in New York Latimer was the only woman to be offered moving expenses to relocate to New York, but she declined the offer.

After Pan Am, Kathryn Latimer worked at McGraw-Hill^[5] and the estimating department of Bechtel Corporation.^[5] When the company decided to purchase a mainframe computer, Latimer was sent to take every class given at IBM. In 1952 and 1953, she built the company's first database retrieval system, with 10 engineers working under her charge, renting computer time since they did not have a mainframe computer at that time. The database was used for a period of ten years.^[5] In 1958, she married Alfred Waldemar Strutynski.

Kathryn Strutynski's husband moved to Monterey, California to work for the County of Monterey as an auditor. The couple lived in Carmel Village, where she worked at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) since 1967^[4]^[6] and completed a master's degree program in computer programming at the same time. Strutynski was given system responsibility for the VM operating system at the NPS.^[5] At the same time, Gary Kildall also taught at the NPS^[4] and was interested in operating systems. They became friends,^[7] studied and made unofficial changes to the IBM VM-360 and 370.^[4]^[8]^[9]

Digital Research

Kathryn Strutynski left NPS^[10] and, in 1978^[8]/1979,^[11]^[6] became the fourth employee of Digital Research, Inc.^[11]^[12] She adapted CP/M-80 for the Apple II^[5]^[13]^{[citation needed]} and worked on CP/M 2.0,^[7] CP/M 2.2,^[14]^[15]^[12] CP/M Plus,^[16]^[14]^[15] and DESPOOL, a background spooler for printing (utilizing simple multi-tasking)^[17] as well as on the system guides. She also was the project manager for CP/M-86,^[14]^[15]^[12] Concurrent CP/M-86^[12] and Concurrent PC DOS.^[18]

Around 1985, Strutynski returned to work for NPS at the W. R. Church Computer Center,^[19] where she raised the PC lab^[19] and taught MS-DOS and WordPerfect courses^[20] as Manager of Microcomputing Support^[21] and Learning Resource Centers.^[22]

In her later years she ran Strutynski Associates in Carmel.^[23]

Personal life

Kathryn Latimer met Alfred Waldemar Strutynski in a German dance hall. They married in 1958 and moved to Carmel since her husband had started working for Monterey County as an auditor. She worked for the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey and later at Digital Research.^[24]

Death

Kathryn Strutynski died on 9 April 2010 at her daughter's home in Calgary while she was 79. Her husband died two days later.^[25]^[24]

In popular culture

Harold Evans wrote about her in his book They Made America (2004).^[26] For the reworked paperback issue (2006), Strutynski spent many hours working with Evans updating the chapter of his book related to the birth of CP/M.^[5]^[12]^[27]

References

^ ^a ^b "Kathryn Betty Latimer". ancestors.familysearch.org (Obituary). 2010. Archived from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-14. 5 February 1931–9 April 2010 (Age 79) Nephi, Juab, Utah, United States […] When Kathryn Betty Latimer was born on 5 February 1931, in Nephi, Juab, Utah, United States, her father [Andrew Hans Latimer, was 39] and her mother, Henriette Norton, was 35. She married Alfred Waldemar Strutynski in 1958. She lived in Nephi Election Precinct, Juab, Utah, United States in 1940 and Utah, United States in 2010. She died on 9 April 2010, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at the age of 79, and was buried in Vine Bluff Cemetery, Nephi, Juab, Utah, United States. […]
^ "Birthdays" (PDF). Digital Dialogue - Employee Newsletter of Digital Research Inc. Vol. 2, no. 1. Digital Research. January 1993. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2021-08-15. […] Feb. 5 Kathy Strutynski […] (4 pages)
^ "James Latimer Jr". ancestors.familysearch.org. 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-29. […] 9th Child: Andrew Hans Latimer […] Birth: 7 Oct 1891 […] Place: Nephi, Juab, Utah […] Married to: Henrietta Norton […] Married: 1 May 1918 […] Place: Manti Temple, Manti, Utah […] Died: 10 Oct 1962 […]
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d School (u. s. ), Naval Postgraduate (1978). "W. R. Church Computer Center; Department of Computer Science". Catalog 1978–1979. Monterey, California, USA: Naval Postgraduate School. pp. 19–20, 108, 119. hdl:10945/31676. US Government Printing Office 794-398-1978. ark:/13960/t68359r3w. Retrieved 2021-08-14. pp. 19, 108: […] W. R. Church Computer Center […] Kathryn Bethy Strutynski (1967); B.S., Brigham Young Univ., 1953. […] Department of Computer Science […] Gary Arlen Kildall, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics (1972); B.S. Univ. of Washington, 1967; M.S., 1968; Ph.D., 1972. […] (224+4 pages)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Strutynski, Kathryn (May 2009). "Kathy Strutynski and Computing and NPS" (PDF). NPS History: Centennial. Centennial Celebration 2009–2010. Naval Postgraduate School. hdl:10945/45665. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-17. pp. 1–2: […] Harold Evans (et al) put together a book called They Made America that has a lot to say about Gary Kildall and other pioneers of computing. As Kathy tells it, he had written a first edition, but discovered that it was full of mistakes – so he came to a conference at Asilomar with the thought particularly in mind that he would look up Kathy and get the straight scoop. […] Another of Kathy's projects in those days at NPS was Interp. It was a system running on the mainframe, under VM, which would allow you to simulate systems written for PC's. You could work out the bugs using Interp on the mainframe, and then know it would work on the PC. Getting Interp running well was a challenge; Kathy was grateful to have capable NPS grad students working with her. […] For Digital Research, Kathy made CP/M (Gary's PC operating system) work on the Apple computer of that time. Credit went to others, but their efforts did not actually work; Kathy got it finally to work. […] [1] (2 pages)
^ ^a ^b "Staff Notes" (PDF). Computer Center Newsletter. Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive: DSpace Repository; Information Technology and Communication Services (ITACS) Computer Facility Newsletter, 1968–1999. Vol. 12, no. 1. Monterey, California, USA: Naval Postgraduate School, Dudley Knox Library. 1980-01-21. p. 6. hdl:10945/57186. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-08-17. p. 6: […] Kathryn Strutynski, who had been a member of our systems programming staff since 1967, resigned recently. Kathryn will be working for Digital Research in Pacific Grove on software for microprocessors. Digital Research was formed, and is run, by Gary Kildall, ex-Professor of Computer Science at the School. The Center will miss her enthusiasm and skills, and we wish her every success in the future. […] (1+6 pages)
^ ^a ^b Kildall, Gary Arlen (2016-08-02) [1993]. Kildall, Scott; Kildall, Kristin (eds.). Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry (Manuscript, part 1). Kildall Family. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2016-11-17. p. 32: […] Ok, so first you make friends with the computer operator at NPS's Computer Center. Then, make friends with the systems programmers. I met a nice lady, an astute programmer, Kathy Strutynski, who was later instrumental in programming upgrades to CP/M, and with relationships between Microsoft and DRI many years later. […] (1+2+78 pages) (NB. Part 2 not released due to family privacy reasons.)
^ ^a ^b Strutynski, Kathryn (2006-02-12). "hiring". Retrieved 2021-08-16 – via Computer History Museum. I was good friends with Gary at the Naval Postgraduate School. We made unauthorized changed to the IBM VM-360 and 370 system code. IBM never let us see the code again. One day at the school, Gary came into my office and asked if I had seen him. That was a very strange question. I soon learned that he had been wandering around all day probably thinking about some new algorithm and he did not know where he had left his punched cards. At this time the cards were his only important possession. Gary didn't talk to me about working for him. He just came into my office, picked up my briefcase. This was a common occurrence. He walked me to my car and said: "I can afford you." We never discussed when or how much. (1 page) (NB. Discusses the informal way Gary Kildall hired Strutynski and her role in developing some of significant Digital Research Products.)
^ Strutynski, Kathryn (2006-05-19). Selmeier, Bill (ed.). "Kathy Strutynski Early Life". Computer History Museum (Video). CHM Catalog Number 102762827. ITCHP 446f95d245858. Lot X7847.2017. Archived from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-10. [3:31] (NB. Strutynski tells of her youth in Utah, attending BYU, coming to San Francisco to work for Pan American Airlines, and then Bechtel.)
^ Elliott, Mack Taylor (September 1978). "Acknowledgements; Initial Distribution List". High Speed Data Acquisition System (Thesis). Monterey, California, USA: Naval Postgraduate School. pp. 9, 191. T185389 ark:/13960/t6d25kt2h. Retrieved 2021-08-14. pp. 9, 191: […] Kathryn Strutynski of the W. R. Church Computer Center furnished untiring assistance with technical problems and programming. […] Kathryn Strutynski, Code 0141 W. R. Church Computer Center Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, California 93940 […] (191 pages)
^ ^a ^b "DRI Personnel Report by Hiring Date" (PDF). Digital Research. c. 1981. CHM Catalog Number 102770767. ITCHP 44203e0563f13. Lot X3516.2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-16. Retrieved 2021-08-16 – via Computer History Museum. […] Strutynski, Kathy 02/01/79 […] (1 page) (NB. Listing of the first 39 DRI employees listed by date of hire. According to this list, Strutynski was hired about two months before Thomas Alan Rolander, who is often considered to have been DRI's first employee, although John R. Pierce was.)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Kathryn Betty Strutynski". Monterey Herald (Obituary). 2010-06-19. Archived from the original on 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2021-08-10 – via Legacy.com. […] 79 - Kathryn Betty Strutynski, a long-time resident of Carmel, passed away on April 9, 2010, at the home of her daughter, Karen. Born in Nephi, Utah, she attended Brigham Young University where she obtained an undergraduate degree in mathematics. In her early 20's, Kathryn moved to San Francisco, where she went to work for Pan Am Airways. Here, she was responsible for all charter bids at the Western Division of Pan Am. When Pan Am consolidated its offices in New York, Kathryn was the only female employee offered moving expenses to relocate […] However, Kathryn decided to stay in her beloved San Francisco. Kathryn then went to work at the estimating department of Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco. Bechtel sent her to every class given at IBM when the company decided to purchase a mainframe. With her new knowledge, Kathryn ended up building the company's first database retrieval system. Bechtel kept her database system for ten years. In 1958, Kathryn married an Austrian, Alfred Strutynski, and they moved to Carmel. While living on the Peninsula, Kathryn worked for the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey and obtained her master's degree in computer programming through the school. At NPS, Kathryn was given system responsibility for the VM operating system. Because of this, a Navy professor by the name of Gary Kildall, who was very interested in all operating systems, developed a deepfriendship with Kathryn. The two of them made unauthorized changes to the IBM VM-360 and 370 system code. IBM never let them see the code again. A few years later, Kathryn left NPS, when in her words, "Gary walked into my office, picked up my briefcase, and said, 'I can afford you.'" She then became the fourth employee of Gary's company, Digital Research Inc. At DRI, Kathryn watched excitedly as Gary completed work on the first computer operating system known as CP/M or Control Program for Microcomputers. The foundations of this operating system were later to become the basis for both QDOS and MS/DOS. The computer company, IBM, was very excited by the possibilities of this new operating system and tried to bargain with DRI to sell it this new product. When Gary became hesitant to sell CP/M to IBM, it was Kathryn who was called late one evening at home by Bill Gates of Microsoft Corp. and asked to intercede with Gary. However, the sale was not to be, and the rest, as they say, is history. Kathryn stayed on at DRI and continued to write code for new versions of CP/M. She worked on CP/M 2.0 and [CP/M Plus]. She made many contributions to CP/M 2.2 (the largest money spinner for DRI) including a background spooler for printing (simple multi-tasking) and system guides. In fact, in one book, Kathryn is called "the mother of CP/M 2.2," for the hundreds and hundreds of hours she put in with Dave Brown, John Pierce, Bob Silberst[ei]n, and others, perfecting Kildall's original design. Kathryn was also the project manager for CP/M-86 and Concurrent CP/M-86. While at DRI, Kathryn gave seminars on hardware implementation in Brussels, Wokingham, England, and Munich, Germany. One of Kathryn's biggest thrills in later life was meeting the author Sir Harold Evans while he was re-writing parts of his book, "They Made America," for the release of its paperback version. Kathryn spent many long hours working with Sir Harold Evans updating the chapter of his book relating to the birth of CP/M and her beloved Gary Kildall's contributions to the field of computing. […] [2]
^ CP/M Gold Card. Digital Research. c. 1984. MPN 8934-0. CHM Catalog Number 102645991. Archived from the original on 2021-08-16. Retrieved 2021-08-16 – via Computer History Museum. (NB. Digital Research's CP/M Gold Card was a Z80 coprocessor card for the Apple II with 64 or 192 KB of RAM. It came with CP/M Pro 3.0, CBASIC and other development tools.)
^ ^a ^b ^c van Andel, H.; Strutynski, Kathryn (March 1983). "CP/M Plus: Nieuwe versie van CP/M verhoogt micro-prestaties" (PDF). Softwarekronkels. Databus - maandblad voor microcomputer-techniek (in Dutch). Vol. 1983, no. 3. Deventer, Netherlands: Kluwer Technische Tijdschriften BV. pp. 11–13, 15 [11]. ISSN 0167-1340. CHM Catalog Number 102770801. ITCHP 4470ecbc538a0. Lot X3705.2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-16. Retrieved 2021-08-16. (4 pages) (NB. Written after Strutynski gave a talk in the Netherlands.)
^ ^a ^b ^c Brown, David K.; Strutynski, Kathryn; Wharton, John Harrison (1983-05-14). "Tweaking more performance from an operating system - Hashing, caching, and memory blocking are just a few of the techniques used to punch up performance in the latest version of CP/M". System Design/Software. Computer Design - The Magazine of Computer Based Systems. Vol. 22, no. 6. Littleton, Massachusetts, USA: PennWell Publications / PennWell Publishing Company. pp. 193–194, 196, 198, 200, 202, 204. ISSN 0010-4566. OCLC 1564597. CODEN CMPDA. ark:/13960/t3hz07m4t. Retrieved 2021-08-14. p. 193: […] Kathryn Strutynski manages 8-bit operating systems software development at Digital Research. Ms Strutynski was project manager for CP/M 2.2, CP/M-86, and CP/M Plus. She has an MS in computer science from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. […] (7 pages)
^ "Operating Systems SBC". Digital Dialogue - Employee Newsletter of Digital Research Inc. Vol. 1, no. 5. Digital Research. December 1982. pp. 1, 7 [7]. Archived from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2021-08-15. p. 7: […] CP/M Plus Project Leader Kathy Strutynski discusses marketing tactics with Hal Elgie […] (8 pages)
^ DESPOOL Background Print Utility - Operator's Guide (PDF). Pacific Grove, California, USA: Digital Research. 1979. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2021-08-15. (2+8+2 pages)
^ Forbes, Jim (1985-11-04). "DRI Alters Its Stalled Concurrent DOS System". News. InfoWorld - The Newsweekly for the Microcomputing Community. Vol. 7, no. 44. Menlo Park, California, USA: CW Communications, Inc. p. 20. Archived from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2021-08-15. p. 20: […] Kathy Strutynski, product marketing manager for DRI's Concurrent [PC DOS] […]
^ ^a ^b Lamont, Steve (May 2009). "Steve Lamont" (PDF) (interview). Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive: DSpace Repository; History of Naval Postgraduate School - Centennial Celebration, 2009–2010. Monterey, California, USA: Naval Postgraduate School, Dudley Knox Library. hdl:10945/45670. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-08-17. […] Did you do more of the setting up, or was it more Kathy Strutynski? […] I don't think I can take any credit. I did some initial experimentation with local area net-working but didn't have time to actually complete a production system before I left. I think you can accurately credit Ms. Strutynski with the PC lab. She arrived after I left and probably spent a while cleaning up my mess. […] (1+6 pages)
^ Harvey, Neil; Strutynski, Kathryn (1987-07-02). "Summer Quarter Talks - MS-DOS Topics: In-119 and In-151 / Introduction to WordPerfect: In-151; Micro News" (PDF). Announcements. Computer and Information Services Bulletin. Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive - Information Technology and Communication Services (ITACS) Computer Center Bulletin. Monterey, California, USA: Naval Postgraduate School, Dudley Knox Library. pp. 2–5 [4–5]. hdl:10945/52509. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-14. (1+8 pages)
^ "Information: Computer Center Points of Contact" (PDF). Computer and Information Services Bulletin. Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive - Information Technology and Communication Services (ITACS) Computer Center Bulletin. Monterey, California, USA: Naval Postgraduate School, Dudley Knox Library. 1993-01-04 [1992-01-04]. p. 13. hdl:10945/52575. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-14. p. 13: […] Manager, Microcomputing Support […] Kathryn Strutynski […] Room In-111 Ext. 2696 […] (1+13 pages)
^ "Computing Services POC" (PDF). Computer and Information Services Bulletin. Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive - Information Technology and Communication Services (ITACS) Computer Center Bulletin. Monterey, California, USA: Naval Postgraduate School, Dudley Knox Library. 1995-11-08. p. 9. hdl:10945/52600. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-04-13. Retrieved 2021-08-14. p. 9: […] Manager, Learning Resource Centers […] Kathryn Strutynski GL-375 kstrutynski […] 2696 […] (1+10 pages)
^ Rossini, Brian (2021). "Brian Rossini - Sr. Product Manager, Smart Glasses". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2021-08-15. Strutynski Associates Carmel, CA […] Personally mentored by Kathy Strutynski: Kathy wrote what was renamed DOS Operating System (without permission) while working at Digital Research, with Gary Kildall. Co-inventor of magnetic disc writing process, also with Gary. […] Kathy was a joy to work with, indoctrinating one lucky student every 3–4 years out of high school into tech via a paid part-time internship, then part time employment. […]
^ ^a ^b "Alfred Waldemar Strutynski". ancestors.familysearch.org (Obituary). 2010. Archived from the original on 2021-08-10. 19 September 1919–11 April 2010 (Age 90) Czernowitz, Bukowina, Austria
^ "Alfred Waldemar Strutynski". Monterey Herald (Obituary). 2010-06-19. Archived from the original on 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2021-08-14 – via Legacy.com.
^ Evans, Harold; Buckland, Gail; Lefer, David (2004). "III. The Digital Age: Gary Kildall - He saw the future and made it work. He was the true founder of the personal computer revolution and the father of PC Software". They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators (1 ed.). New York, USA: Little, Brown and Company, Time Warner Book Group. pp. 402–417 [414]. ISBN 0-316-27766-5. LCCN 2003065954. p. 414: […] Jacqui Morby agrees. "We could have won the first look and feel case and held up IBM." She recalls that the new board was not aware that during this period, while IBM and Gates kept very quiet, Microsoft's Steve Bal[l]mer was nevertheless continually on the telephone to DRI's project manager, Kathy Strutynski, asking for guidance on the internal engineering of the CP/M operating system. "That was pure thievery." […] (2+1+496+2 pages) (NB. A corrected revision was released as paperback in 2006.)
^ Evans, Harold; Buckland, Gail; Lefer, David (2006). They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators (revised paperback ed.). USA: Back Bay Books. ISBN 0-316-01385-4. (692 pages) (NB. This paperback is a corrected revision of the original 2004 hardback edition. There is a 2014 revision of this book, which, in a chapter "Vindication for Kildall" [3], also discussed the outcome of the 2005–2007 Tim Paterson v. Harold Evans law suit and the IEEE 2013 Diamond Entrepreneurial Excellence Award for Kildall.)