"Jack" joined the Math Department in 1942 and again in 1946 after two years as a physicist with Ames Aeronautical Laboratory at Moffett Field. In 1953 Stanford University received its first computer and Prof. Herriot, a pure mathematician, assumed responsibility as the first Director of the newly founded Computation Center. In Spring of 1955, he taught the first programming course "Theory and Operation of Computing Machines" to 25 students using an IBM Card Programmed Calculator, Model II. Enrollment mushroomed to 150 in 1959 In 1956, he started working with students in a new math masters program in "Scientific Computation". In 1957, he helped recruit George Forsythe to the math department. In 1961, he and George Forsythe founded the Computer Science Division of the Mathematics Department and started hiring computer science faculty. In January 1965 the faculty of the Computer Science Division moved to the newly founded Computer Science Department. He served as acting department chairman from 66-67 and 72-73. His principal interests were in numerical analysis, especially in the development and description of algorithms useful for solving various problems arising in numerical analysis.
Professor Herriot passed away March 16, 2003, at the age of 87.
