Charles W. Bachman: Database Software Pioneer

Bachman´s career was long, varied, and distinguished. He ran a chemical plant, created a capital accounting systems, headed an early data processing group, pioneered the application of computers to manufacturing control, led efforts to standardize database and computer communication concepts, won the highest honor in computer science, and founded a publicly traded company. Innovation is a collaborative process, but by creating IDS and advocating forcefully for the concepts behind it Bachman did more than any other person to invent the DBMS as we know it today. Through all of this he retained an engineer´s zest for the elegant solution of difficult problems and faith in the power of careful analysis and the systems approach to make the world a better place.