Jump to content

Edson de Castro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edson de Castro (September 14, 1938 – September 6, 2024) was an American computer engineer and businessman, perhaps best known for designing the Data General Nova series of computers.[1]

Life and career

[edit]

De Castro was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on September 14, 1938.[2][3] He was founder and CEO of Data General Corporation throughout the 1970s, the 1980s and into the 1990s when he was replaced by Ronald L Skates, a former Price Waterhouse Coopers partner. He also was the project manager in charge of developing the PDP-8 mini computer at Digital Equipment Corporation,[4] before leaving to form Data General Corporation.[4] As CEO of Data General, he appeared in Tracy Kidder's book The Soul of a New Machine.

De Castro married Jean DeCastro in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1963. Jean was a school teacher and Edson worked at Digital Equipment. They divorced in 1980.[5] Edson de Castro died on September 6, 2024, at the age of 85.[3][6]

Books

[edit]
  • Kidder, Tracy (1981). The Soul of a New Machine. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-49170-9.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Data General NOVA (1969)". Archived from the original on 2001-08-12. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  2. ^ "Oral History of Edson (Ed) D. de Castro" (PDF). Computer History Museum. 13 January 2003. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Edson Donald de Castro". Chiampa Funeral Home. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b Hyatt, Joshua (April 1, 2003). "The Business That Time Forgot Data General is gone. But does that make its founder a failure?". money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
  5. ^ "DeCastro v. DeCastro". Justia Law. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Edson Donald De Castro". Legacy. Retrieved 24 September 2024.