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Hennessey (Kathleen) papers
M2261
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Kathleen Hennessey papers
creator:
Hennessey, A. Kathleen
source:
Hennessey, A. Kathleen
Identifier/Call Number: M2261
Physical Description:
164 Linear Feet
: 328 boxes
Date (inclusive): circa 1973-2003
Date (bulk): 1980s-1990s
Audrey Kathleen Hennessey is a data scientist, researcher, and educator whose work has primarily focused on systems, information
processing, and organizational automation.
Hennessey was born in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1936. She studied at Stanford University, earning a BA in Public Administration
in 1957. Hennessey began her career in Ampex Corporation’s Data Processing Department, before eventually going on to earn
an HSA in Education from the University of Toronto in 1968. She was a Lecturer at Manchester Polytechnic (which later became
Manchester Metropolitan University) from 1970 to 1980, and at the University of Manchester from 1980 to 1982. She additionally
served as an Assessor of Information Systems Analysis and Data Processing for the British Department of Education and Science.
She also earned her Ph.D. from the University of Lancaster in 1982, with her doctorate research focusing on early systems
methods and their relevance to complex multidimensional settings. Her later research and publications would include topics
such as systems analysis, automated visual inspection, object-oriented languages, knowledge-based image analysis, and neural
networks.
After earning her Ph.D., Hennessey went on to teach at Texas Tech University from 1982 to 2001. Serving as director of Texas
Tech’s Institute for Studies of Organizational Automation (ISOA), a systems research laboratory focusing on incorporating
automation into organizations, Hennessey undertook a variety of enterprises, including commercializing intellectual property
from TTU. ISOA was eventually spun-off to the private company Innovative Solutions for Automation (ISOA, Inc.). As a private
company, ISOA worked as a supplier of embedded software for tool vendors and automated wafer inspection systems for semiconductor
manufacturing facilities, among other ventures. Over the years, ISOA worked with clients such as IBM, Boeing, Texas Instruments,
Digital Equipment, Xerox, Sony, Leica, British Airways, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Tokyo Electron, Electroglas, and
the United States Naval Intelligence. The company was sold to Rudolph Technologies in 2002.
Hennessey served on the American National Standards Institute’s Committee on Information Systems Standards and was a senior
member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. She received the Halliburton Award for Excellence in Teaching and Research
in 1986. In 1992, she received the Distinguished Information Sciences Award (DISA) from the Data Processing Management Association
(DPMA) for her contributions to the information processing profession; the DISA had previously been awarded to figures such
as Grace Hopper, David Packard, and Ross Perot.
The Kathleen Hennessey papers include a wide range of materials, largely centered around computer science and information
processing. The bulk of the material originates from Hennessey’s tenure at Texas Tech University, particularly her involvement
with the Institute for Studies of Organizational Automation (ISOA).
ISOA materials include research lab notebooks, meeting notes, research literature, grant applications, interdepartmental correspondence,
diagrams, instruction sheets, and layout forms. The collection as a whole contains approximately 21 issued patents and 50
grants and contracts.
The Hennessey papers also contained numerous academic materials in the fields of information science and computer science.
These include academic journals and publications (some of which contain Hennessey’s own published articles), conference proceedings,
and numerous early textbooks dealing with topics such as data processing, systems analysis, and object-oriented programming
languages.
Teaching materials from Hennessey’s work at Manchester Polytechnic, the University of Manchester, and Texas Tech University
include presentations, assignments, and related textbooks. The main subjects of these materials are systems analysis, information
systems, computers in education, and COBOL and BASIC programming.
Finally, the collection contains numerous examples of early computer hardware, such as wired plugboards, punchcards, silicon
wafers, circuit boards, blackboards with plugboard layouts, and an acoustic coupler modem. There are also manuals for early
computer systems like IBM 1440 and 360, and COBOL DOS and OS.
Materials containing the confidential information of students and employees, as well as sensitive legal documents, are restricted,
and will be closed for research until 2050.
Within each series, materials are arranged by the order processed.
Material in Series 1 through 3 is open for research. Audiovisual materials are not available in original format, and must
be reformatted to a digital use copy. Born-digital material is closed until processed.
Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Material in Series 4 is CLOSED until 2050.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
[identification of item], Kathleen Hennessey papers (M2261). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Kathleen Hennessey; 2017. Accessions MSS 2017-253, 2017-254, and 2017-375.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Computer science.
Computer scientists.
Hennessey, A. Kathleen
Hennessey, A. Kathleen